China National Petroleum Corp said Wednesday it has signed an agreement with Kazakhstan's KazMunaiGas to jointly develop a gas field in the Central Asian country.
The deal was one of eight sealed between the two neighbours on Tuesday during President Nursultan Nazarbayev's three-day visit to Beijing.
CNPC and KazMunaiGas will set up a 50-50 joint venture to develop the Urikhtau field, in the west of Kazakhstan, with the gas produced transported via a pipeline linking the two countries, the Chinese company said in a statement.
No financial details were provided.
Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic located between China and Russia, is rich in natural resources including oil, gold and uranium.
China is seeking greater access to natural resources in Central Asia to fuel its fast-growing economy, the world's second-largest.
Other cooperation agreements signed Tuesday include a 1,200-kilometre high-speed railway project linking the Kazakh capital Astana to the country's economic hub Almaty, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Chinese President Hu Jintao highlighted the "blooming bilateral ties" with Kazakhstan, which saw two-way trade soar 45 percent year-on-year in 2010 to $20 billion, Xinhua said.
"It's our unswerving policy to promote the Chinese-Kazakh strategic partnership that is long-lasting, stable, good-neighbourly, friendly, cooperative and win-win," Hu was quoted as saying.
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