On October 29, 2008, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Astana, kicking off an official visit to Kazakhstan at the invitation of Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov.Wen is scheduled to attend the 7th prime ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

At 18: 50 local time, Wen’s special plane arrived at Astana International Airport, wherehe was warmly welcomed by Masimov and other Kazakh officials. The Chinese premier also attended a welcoming ceremony.

In a written statement delivered upon his arrival at the airport, Wen said China and Kazakhstan are friendly neighbors linked by mountains and rivers. The traditional friendship between the two countries and their peoples goes back to ancient times. He spoke highly of the sound development of Sino-Kazakh relations since the two countries forged diplomatic ties 16 years ago. The launch of Sino-Kazakh strategic partnership in 2005 marked that bilateral ties have entered a new stage of development, he said. Recent years have witnessed frequent high-level visits, increasing political trust and expanding pragmatic cooperation on economy, trade, energy, security and humanities, he added.

Wen pointed out that the two countries supported each other on key sensitive issues concerning the other side’s core interest and coordinated closely within multilateral frameworks including the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA). They have made positive contributions to preserving regional peace and stability and promoting common development and prosperity, added Wen.

The premier said his current visit is aimed at promoting mutual understanding and trust between the two peoples, enhancing substantial bilateral cooperation in various fields, and pushing forward the development of the bilateral strategic partnership.

During the visit, Wen will meet respectively with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and parliament leaders and hold official talks with Prime Minister Karim Masimov, exchanging in-depth views with them on bilateral ties as well as other issues of common concern. Both sides are expected to sign a range of cooperation documents. At the 7th prime ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Premier Wen will also exchange views with his counterparts from other SCO member states on implementing the consensus reached at the SCO Dushanbe summit this August and on pushing forward SCO cooperation in all areas.

Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan Cheng Guoping and the staff of the embassy, as well as representatives from local Chinese-funded institutions, overseas Chinese and Chinese students greeted Wen at the airport.

On the evening of the same day, Premier Wen also met with the staff of the Chinese Embassy in Kazakhstan, and representatives from local Chinese-funded institutions, overseas Chinese and Chinese students.

Kazakhstan is the last leg of Wen's current tour which has already taken him to Russia.

Before leaving Moscow, Premier Wen visited Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center. Wen highly praised Russia’s achievements in the field of space technology, adding that the space sector is a new highlight of Sino-Russian scientific and technological cooperation in the future. Wen also gave an interview to Russian media.