Premier Li Keqiang arrived at Astana International Airport on the afternoon of Dec 14 and was greeted by Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov at a welcome ceremony. [Photo/english.gov.cn]

ASTANA - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here Sunday to pay an official visit to Kazakhstan and attend the 13th prime ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

During his visit, Li will also hold the second regular meeting between the China-Kazakhstan heads of government with his Kazakh counterpart Karim Masimov.

The two sides are expected to sign about 30 cooperative agreements worth $10 billion.

The SCO, founded in 2001, currently has six member states -- China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. It also has Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan as observers and Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka as dialogue partners.

After Kazakhstan, Li will travel to Serbia to attend the third leaders' meeting of China and Central and Eastern European countries and pay an official visit to the country.

In Thailand, the final leg of his tour, Li will attend the fifth summit of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) Economic Cooperation.