The trade turnover between Uzbekistan and China for the first half of the year approached $5 billion, Spot reports referring to an article written by PRC President Xi Jinping on CCTV.com.

The material was prepared for the Uzbek media on the eve of the SCO summit in Samarkand. It examines the development of bilateral ties over the past 30 years and their prospects.

In particular, the volume of mutual foreign trade in 2022 is expected to reach $10 billion. This is a quarter more than a year earlier – $8 billion ($7.44 billion according to the State Statistics Committee).

Cooperation within the framework of the “Belt and Road” Initiative made it possible to achieve these results. Thus, with the help of China, one of the longest railway tunnels in Central Asia was built on the Kamchik pass, connecting the Fergana Valley with the rest of Uzbekistan.

The road from China through Kyrgyzstan and the railway through Kazakhstan help to use the transport potential of the republic. The future China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan extension will contribute to its further disclosure, the article notes.

The two countries are also implementing joint projects in the areas of alternative energy, agriculture, communications and finance. In addition, they mutually use the experience of reform and development.

In recent years alone, more than 6,500 Uzbeks have received vocational training in China in various fields.

The article calls for “deepening mutually beneficial cooperation for joint development and prosperity”. By the 10th anniversary of the “Belt and Road”, Uzbekistan and China have a chance to develop partnership and provide access to the effects of it for the entire population, it says.