President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held negotiations with Xi Jinping.

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit taking place in Bishkek.

 

 

At the beginning of the conversation, the head of state expressed gratitude to the Chinese leader for his congratulations on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of Uzbekistan's independence and for his contribution to the development of Uzbekistan-China relations.

 

 

The parties put forward a proposal to prepare a program of events for the wide celebration of the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries next year.

 

 

During the negotiations, issues of further developing ties in political dialogue, trade-economic and investment cooperation, technological partnership, transport, energy, education, culture, and tourism were discussed.

 

It was noted that the volume of trade between Uzbekistan and China reached nearly 18 billion dollars last year. The parties proposed setting a new target to bring this figure to 30 billion dollars in the coming years.

 

It was also noted that the portfolio of joint investment projects being implemented in Uzbekistan amounts to nearly 60 billion dollars, and the number of joint enterprises in the country exceeds 6,000.

 

Promising directions were identified for expanding industrial cooperation in the fields of energy, chemicals, metallurgy, construction materials, food, transport and infrastructure, agriculture, and high technologies.

 

The parties noted cooperation with "BYD" company on the production of electric vehicles as an important example of technological partnership and supported plans to increase production capacity and the level of localization.

 

In the transport sector, it was emphasized that the construction of the strategic "China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan" railway is being effectively continued.

 

The meeting also considered issues of expanding tourism and humanitarian ties, increasing the geography of air routes and the number of flights between cities of the two countries, and developing cooperation in culture, education, and science.

 

Issues of deepening regional partnership in the "China–Central Asia" format and preparations for the third summit to be held in China next year were also discussed.

 

At the end of the negotiations, Shavkat Mirziyoyev invited Xi Jinping to pay a visit to Uzbekistan.