Li Changchun, a senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official, met in Beijing Thursday with Bakytzhah Zhumagulov, acting president of the Otan (Fatherland) Party of Kazakhstan.

Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said the past 13 years have seen improved political ties between China and Kazakhstan with enhanced bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, energy, transportation, culture and security.

China and Kazakhstan announced they were setting up a strategic partnership early July during President Hu Jintao's state visit to Kazakhstan. Li said such a move signifies that the bilateral ties have entered a new stage and "China is confident of the prospect of China-Kazakhstan relations."

On party relations, Li said the CPC values its friendship with the Otan (Fatherland) Party and is willing to exchange experiences of governance and continuously enrich the content of party relations to make new contributions to the development of China-Kazakhstan ties.

Zhumagulov said Kazakhstan attaches great importance to the good-neighborly relations with China and his party also values the exchanges and cooperation with the CPC.

He said the consensus reached by the two heads of state on the forging of a strategic partnership sets the direction for the development of bilateral ties.

He said as Kazakhstan's largest party, the Otan (Fatherland) Party pays close attention to China's development, feels proud for China's achievements in economic reforms and is willing to improve party exchanges to learn from China's development and the CPC's experience in governing the country.

(Xinhua News Agency July 22, 2005)