A Study on the Legal Guarantee for China-Kazakhstan Water Conservancy Project Cooperation under the "Belt and Road" Initiative——An Analysis Combined with the 2025 Treaty of Eternal Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation
Yangwan

Al-Farabi Kazakh National University，Almaty Kazakhstan，050040；

Abstract: The "Belt and Road" Initiative has propelled China-Kazakhstan cooperation in water conservancy projects into a phase of in-depth development. Cooperative practices in areas such as cross-border water resource allocation and joint construction of water conservancy infrastructure have placed higher demands on the legal guarantee system. The entry into force of the 2025 Treaty of Eternal Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation has provided a new legal basis for bilateral cooperation. From a professional legal perspective, this paper sorts out the current status of China-Kazakhstan water conservancy cooperation and the limitations of the existing legal guarantee framework, focuses on analyzing the alignment between the core principles of the Treaty and water conservancy cooperation as well as their specific application scenarios, and explores the synergy path between the Treaty and existing mechanisms. The study proposes to build a more systematic legal guarantee system by refining the supporting implementation rules of the Treaty, optimizing the design of bilateral legal systems, and drawing on advanced international practices, so as to provide legal support for the sustainable advancement of China-Kazakhstan water conservancy project cooperation.

Keywords: Belt and Road; China-Kazakhstan Cooperation; Water Conservancy Projects; Legal Guarantee; Treaty of Eternal Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation

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