Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus to discuss Silk Road belt

President Xi Jinping left for Kazakhstan yesterday as part of a six-day state visit that will also take him to Beijing's most important strategic partner Russia and nearby Belarus.

In Kazakhstan, Xi met Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, jointly laying down a blueprint for cooperation between the two countries.

The Chinese foreign ministry said the cooperation included the joint construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt proposed by Beijing for trade and infrastructure development along countries in Asia and Europe. Kazakhstan, China's strategic partner for the last 23 years, is one of the countries along the belt.

The visit was Xi's second to Kazakhstan in two years, and the trip is expected to increase mutual trust between the two states.

After Kazakhstan, Xi will head to Moscow today for a three-day visit, where he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Xi and Putin will define the priorities and direction of China-Russia ties, the foreign ministry said. They will discuss combining the Silk Road belt with Russia's idea for a trade and infrastructure network across Eurasia, as well as the development of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.

Xi's strategy of expanding Chinese interests through the former Soviet states of central Asia could clash with Putin's plans for the Eurasian Economic Union and undermine Sino-Russian relations, according to Bobo Lo, author of to be published next month.