On December 13, 2007, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Li Hui attended upon invitation a reception to mark the 16th anniversary of Kazakhstan's independence held by Kazakh Ambassador to China Ikram Adyrbekov in China World Hotel. Li Hui and Adyrbekov delivered speeches respectively.

In his speech, Li spoke highly of the huge achievements Kazakhstan has made in national development, economic growth, national rejuvenation and foreign exchanges since its independence 16 years ago. He said the close high-level visits between the two countries in recent years have injected strong impetus into the development of bilateral ties and both sides have conducted fruitful cooperation in such multilateral frameworks as the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), so as to contribute to safeguarding regional and world peace and stability. China is ready to work with Kazakhstan to continuously deepen pragmatic cooperation in all areas and upgrade bilateral ties to a new level, said Li.

Adyrbekov said the Kazakhstan-China strategic partnership based on good-neighborly friendship, mutual respect and win-win cooperation has become a model of state-to-state relations in the world. Kazakhstan will continue efforts with China to advance comprehensive, in-depth development of bilateral political, economic and humanistic cooperation of mutual benefits, he added.