BEIJING -- President Xi Jinping said Sunday that China is willing to strengthen strategic coordination and deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with Kazakhstan.

Xi made the remarks when meeting with his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev, who is in Beijing to attend the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on Sunday and Monday.

Xi proposed the building of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in Kazakhstan and Indonesia respectively in 2013, which later evolved into the Belt and Road Initiative.