Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS 1 October 1997

RFE/RL Newsline,9/25/97

Almaty and Beijing on 24 September signed an estimated $9.5 billion deal on oil shipments and the construction of two pipelines, according to RFE/RL correspondents. China's number two leader Li Peng arrived in Almaty for a one-day visit to sign the deal with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev. The China National Oil Corporation will develop the Uzen and Aktyubinsk oil fields in western Kazakhstan. It will also build a 3,000 kilometer pipeline to China's western border and a 250 kilometer pipeline to the Turkmen border. Under the deal, the pipelines will begin operating within five years. Li called the deal a "new page" in Sino-Kazakh relations, while Nazarbayev said it was the "contract of the century."