Nazarbayev University staff recalls moments of President Xi's BRI proposal

An administrator at Nazarbayev University in Astana, Kazakhstan recalled the excitement felt across campus as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived there and later proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt, an essential component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), back in 2013.

The historic announcement remains clear in the memories of faculty and staff at the university ahead of Xi's return to Astana to attend the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) later this week.

Aray Saniyazova, head of International Students and Scholars Services at Nazarbayev University, said that on the day of the announcement eleven years ago, the entire school was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Xi to the campus, as well as then-president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

"On that very day, it was exciting, it was really exciting. We were all in anticipation of this address, of this high-profile visit. And when the presidents entered, we could feel the energy and charisma, they were radiating. We were very impressed," said Saniyazova.

She stressed that the significance of the announcement has become even more clear in the decade since that day.

"I accept and perceive this Belt and Road Initiative as a global development strategy. Kazakhstan was one of the first countries to support this idea, and in fact this idea was actually announced in this building at our university. And I believe it's a great initiative to foster infrastructure, transport," said Saniyazova.

Today, an estimated 28,000 students from Central Asia are studying in China, and among them some 14,000 are from Kazakhstan alone. That achievement was kick-started by a scholarship program for students from the region that Xi announced in the same speech that day.

Although the BRI at its core promotes infrastructure, Saniyazova said that such exchanges are integrally related to its success.

"I think it's really important to actually foster and enhance such relationships and development of interchange and exchange between students and the faculty and even staff, because exchange of information and knowledge is really important, and this also creates a sense of trust and mutual understanding which is really important in fostering this idea of the Belt and Road Initiative, especially that soft side of that, which actually put basis and foundation for developing the whole idea," she said.

Nazarbayev University staff recalls moments of President Xi's BRI proposal

China and Kazakhstan have witnessed an upsurge in people-to-people and cultural exchanges in recent years, a development that Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed in a signed article published in Kazakh media outlets prior to his visit to the central Asian country.

Xi arrived for a state visit to Kazakhstan on Tuesday, where he will also attend the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

On the same day, the signed article from the Chinese president was published in the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper and Kazinform International News Agency under the title "Staying True to Our Shared Commitment and Opening a New Chapter in China-Kazakhstan Relations."

In the article, Xi highlighted the enduring friendship between the Chinese and Kazakh peoples, citing an example involving Chinese musician Xian Xinhai and Kazakh composer Bakhytzhan Baikadamov.

Over 80 years ago, Xian and Baikadamov met and became close and devoted friends despite their different nationalities and languages.

"In 1943, my father happened to meet Xian Xinghai, who was sitting on a box holding a violin. Seeing how helpless and homeless Xian was, my father took his hand and brought him home," Baikadamova's daughter Baldyrgan said.

Xi also mentioned the much-respected Kazakh ophthalmologist Saulebek Kabibekov, who treated more than 200,000 patients during his 25-year stay in northeastern China.

There was also a nod to the hugely popular Kazakh singer Dimash Kudaibergen, who took China by storm after he won the second place in a popular reality singing competition, "Singer 2017", and later had the chance to meet Xi.

"I first met President Xi in 2017. After the performance, he came to me and told me about his impressions [of] my work and musical journey in China. Since then, I've been exploring Chinese culture and history which, of course, has inspired me infinitely," said Kudaibergen.

People-to-people exchanges between the two countries have also become more frequent since mutual visa-exemption arrangements took effect last year, facilitating greater travel between the two sides.

Last year, a total of 600,000 cross-border trips were recorded. In the first quarter of 2024, the number of visits in both directions had already amounted to 200,000 and are expected to reach a new high by the end of the year.

China, Kazakhstan see upsurge in people-to-people, cultural exchanges