We begin in Beijing, where Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has arrived to kick off his three-day visit to China at the invitation of Chinese President Hu Jintao.
The visit is aimed at pushing up the two countries' strategic partnership to a higher level. During the visit, the two sides are expected to sign a series of agreements on alternative energy, oil and gas projects. Nazarbayev is also expected to meet with Wu Bangguo, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, and Premier Wen Jiabao.
Meanwhile, Nazarbayev will also visit Tianjin, a city close to Beijing. Paul Crowe takes a closer look at the two countries bilateral relations over the past few years.
Recent years have seen frequent top-level exchanges by top leaders of the two countries.
In June 2010, President Hu Jintao visited Kazakhstan.
During his meeting with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev, President Hu Jintao stressed the importance of boosting bilateral exchanges in political, economic,and cultural fields.
Both sides also agreed to help each other tackle terrorism and maintain regional safety.
Meanwhile,Kazakhstan is this year's rotating chair state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the country will host the summit marking the 10th anniversary of its establishment.
Nazarbayev pointed out before leaving for China that the status of the SCO is rising increasingly and China has made important contributions to the consolidation of world and regional security.
As for economic cooperation, bilateral trade between the two countries has seen rapid growth recently.
The latest statistics show that trade volume between the two countries set a new record by surpassing 20 billion US dollars in 2010, increasing more than 45 percent year on year.
China-Kazakhstan trade volume accounts for 70 percent of China's total trade in Central Asia.
Kazakhstan is China's second largest trade partner in the Commonwealth of Independent States region.
Meanwhile, China remains Kazakhstan's second largest trading partner and the largest export country.
Meanwhile, energy cooperation between the two countries has also grown to a higher level.
Currently, there are more than one-thousand Chinese enterprises in Kazakhstan,which are cooperating with Kazakh companies to build oil and gas pipelines.
Among the top projects is the the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline.
The first phase covered nearly one-thousand kilometers connecting Atasu in Kazakhstan to China's Alataw pass.
It's China's first multinational crude oil pipeline, which was put into operation in 2006.
So far, the pipeline has supplied more than 20 million tons of crude oil to China.
In the future, experts say prospects are bright for the two countries to work together in more fields in an effort to tackle the challenges of a changing world.
