China is willing to further cooperation with Kazakhstan in oil and gas exploitation and transportation, said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao Thursday in Beijing.

Liu made the remark when asked whether Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev will discuss the Sino-Kazakh pipeline programwith Chinese leaders in his upcoming visit to the country.

The cooperation in this field started in September 1997, aimingto build a pipeline from western Kazakhstan to western China. The pipeline, with an estimated cost of between 2.5 and three billion US dollars, will transport no less than 20 million tons of oil annually, experts said.

According to Liu, the joint exploration program in Aktyubinskaya, an oil field in northwestern Kazakhstan, is going smoothly. Besides, the two sides are preparing for the second phase of the pipeline program, a 1,000-km-long pipeline from Kazakhstan's eastern Atasu to China's western Alataw Pass.

"Energy cooperation is crucial to bilateral ties. It is in the interest of both sides and enjoys promising prospects, " Liu said.