Kazakh President Tokayev welcomes Xi at airport

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping at an airport in Astana on Tuesday.

Xi arrived in Astana at noon to attend the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and pay a state visit to Kazakhstan at the invitation of Tokayev.

Xi's plane was escorted by Kazakh Air Force fighter jets after it entered the country's airspace.

This is President Xi's fifth visit to Kazakhstan. During the visit, Xi will have talks with Tokayev on bilateral relations, cooperation in key areas, and the regional and international landscape.

A written statement was released upon Xi's arrival, sending his greetings to Tokayev and the people of Kazakhstan.

Xi hailed the cooperation and interactions between the two countries over the past decades.

He said the two sides will exchange views on bilateral ties, comprehensive cooperation, and other international and regional issues.

The two presidents will also chart out new plans for the development of the China-Kazakhstan permanent comprehensive strategic partnership.

Kazakhstan is the first leg of Xi's Central Asian tour from Tuesday to Saturday, and he will also pay a state visit to Tajikistan at the invitation of President Emomali Rahmon.

The SCO summit will be held in Astana on July 3-4, and China will take over the SCO rotating chair at the conclusion of the summit.

A large-scale disaster response exercise was held on Thursday in the waters off Jingtang Port in Tangshan City, north China's Hebei Province, according to the Maritime Safety Administration.

The drill simulated a scenario where a vessel operating in an oil field area was on fire with oil spillage, involving injuries.

The focus of the exercise was to test the coordination of search and rescue forces and oil spill emergency response, in order to improve the capacity to guarantee the safety for vessels operating in oil fields.