70% of Chinese citizens moving to Kazakhstan are ethnic Kazakhs - ambassador

    Kazakh Ambassador to China, Shakhrat Nuryshev has briefed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Astana.
    The ambassador unveiled statistics regarding the entry of Chinese citizens to Kazakhstan for take up permanent residence.
    “There is the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Beijing. The Consulate General’s Office is operating in the cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong. There is also the Kazakhstan Passport-Visa Service in Urumqi. Issuing visas to Chinese citizens is one of their main activities. There are many speculations regarding the fact that hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens leave China for Kazakhstan and stay here. Allow me to present some statistical data on the number of visas being issued in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Urumqi. 118,321 Chinese citizens were issued Kazakhstani visas. 83,358 of these, or more than 70% are ethnic Kazakhs living in this country. 19,000 people were given business visas, 10,000 received work visas, 4,600 got tourist visas and 173 people came to Kazakhstan for educational purpose. In January-September 2016, 86,203 Chinese citizens received Kazakh visas, 68% of which, or 58,474 are ethnic Kazakhs. 15,000 visas were issued for business purposes, while more than 6,000 were granted for work. 5,000 people were allowed to visit Kazakhstan on a tourist visa, 299 came to the country for an education. 322 people were issued service visas. 23 Chinese citizens were issued investor visas and 56 received transit visas,” Nuryshev said.
    President Nazarbayev had proposed declaring 2017 as the Year of Tourism of China in Kazakhstan. This initiative was backed by China, Kazinform reports.