China and Kazakhstan have agreed to build and finance jointly a natural gas pipeline and strengthen co-operation in atomic energy, giving Beijing greater access to Astana's vast uranium resources. Under an agreement, Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGas and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will build a 1,400-km-long natural gas pipeline (Kazakh leg) that will link with an existing gas pipeline running between China and Central Asia. The two sides will share equally the $3.5-billion cost of the pipeline.
Both countries have also signed an undisclosed agreement under which Kazatomprom, the state-run Kazhak nuclear firm, will supply uranium to China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corporation (CGNPC). The agreements were reached during the just-concluded one-day visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao to Kazakhstan, the second in six months. During his visit June 12, Hu held talks with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev on ways to enhance the strategic partnership between the two countries.
