On December 13, 2009, Chinese President Hu Jintao, after concluding his working visit to Kazakhstan, left Astana for a working visit to Turkmenistan.

Hu arrived at Astana on the afternoon of December 12, kicking off visit to Kazakhstan which is the first stop of his visit to the two Central Asian countries.

He held talks with President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev in Astana. The two heads of state exchanged in-depth views sincerely on China-Kazakhstan relations and the international and regional issues of common concern and reached important consensus on jointly promoting the development of bilateral strategic partnership.

Hu pointed out during the meeting that practices show the sustained, rapid and healthy development of China-Kazakhstan relations serves the common long-term interest of both countries and their people and is beneficial to peace, stability and development of the region. China is willing to join hands with Kazakhstan to enhance political mutual trust, push forward the pragmatic cooperation in all fields and lift the bilateral strategic partnership to new levels.

During the visit, Hu also attended the completion ceremony of China-Kazakhstan natural gas pipeline which is a part of China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline.

China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline starts from the Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan border, runs through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and ends at Horgos of China. The pipeline will be laid in two tracks with the single length of 1,833 kilometers. Track A was put into trial operation at the beginning of December this year. Both of the two tracks will be completed and put into operation in 2010 in accordance with the construction plan.

According to a Chinese foreign ministry official, Hu will attend the inauguration ceremony of China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline together with his counterparts of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan during his visit to Turkmenistan.