Tulenov Ruslan, a Kazakh who first came to China in 2008 when he was 16, never thought that he and his rare blood type would become symbols of friendship between China and his mother country.

President Xi Jinping, in Kazakhstan on Saturday for a state visit, mentioned Ruslan in a speech at Nazarbayev University. Xi noted that Ruslan has donated blood twice a year since he began studying at Hainan University in China in 2009.

Ruslan has type Rh-negative blood, which is rare in China and therefore called "panda blood" by Chinese people. It is often difficult for Chinese patients with this blood type to find a match.