Kazakhstan: Foreign Minister in China Seeking Financial Assistance

Kazakhstan's foreign minister, Marat Tazhin, is in Beijing for talks to secure a multi-billion-dollar Chinese investment package for his country's ailing economy.

Tazhin met Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi on March 30, the Kazakhstan Today news agency reported. They discussed "bilateral cooperation in political, economic and humanitarian spheres and progress in implementing the agreements reached," according to a statement issued by the Kazakhstani Foreign Ministry.

On March 13, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said an agreement covering investments in Kazakhstan's financial services and natural resources would be signed by the end of the year. Trade between Kazakhstan and China was valued at more than $12 billion in 2008.