President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held talks with the President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping on October 17.

Current issues of further strengthening of friendship and comprehensive strategic partnership between Uzbekistan and China were discussed.

At the beginning of the meeting, the president expressed his gratitude to the Chinese leader for the invitation and the warm welcome.

The head of Uzbekistan warmly congratulated the chairman of the People’s Republic of China on the anniversary of the founding of China and the tenth anniversary of the “One belt, one road” initiative.

The “belt and road” initiative has become an important, inclusive and open platform for cooperation in the pursuit of common development and prosperity in a short historical period.

“Green Silk Road” initiative of the President of the People's Republic of China was announced for the first time in Uzbekistan in 2016, has a deep symbolic meaning,” the leader of our country said.

Uzbekistan’s determination to deepen multifaceted relations with China was emphasized.

A five-year program for the development of comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era is being implemented.

It was noted with great satisfaction that the agreements reached during the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan to China in May of this year are being consistently implemented, the political dialogue is strengthening, and the parties are supporting each other on the main issues.

Trade, economic and investment cooperation is developing rapidly.

In the following years, the volume of Chinese investments increased fivefold, and the number of joint ventures increased threefold. Since the beginning of this year, the volume of mutual trade has increased by 36 percent. This indicator is expected to exceed 10 billion dollars by the end of the year.

It was unanimously agreed that there is every reason to increase trade to $20 billion in the next five years.

With the participation of Chinese companies and financial institutions, a number of large-scale investment projects are being implemented in high-tech, alternative energy, chemical, mechanical engineering, metallurgy, electrical engineering, infrastructure modernization, and other areas.

Uzbekistan expressed its interest in increasing high-tech projects by jointly organizing the production of innovative products with high added value.

Effective cooperation with leading Chinese banks and the Silk Road Fund was highly appreciated.

It was noted that interregional relations have been activated. Since the beginning of the year, delegations from Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region, Shaanxi, Shandong, Jiangsu and Jiangxi Provinces have visited Uzbekistan.

Special attention was paid to effective exchange of experience and practical cooperation in studying and implementing China's experience in combating poverty.

It was proposed to hold the next meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee in order to review the progress of the implementation of all agreements.

The leaders appreciated the intense cooperation in the fields of culture, education and tourism. China expressed its gratitude for supporting the initiative to declare 2023 as the “Year of Culture and Arts of the Peoples of Central Asia and China”.

Recently, a presentation of Uzbekistan was held at the National Silk Museum in Hangzhou. An exposition of our historical heritage was organized at the exhibition of archaeological cooperation within the framework of the “belt and road” initiative at the “Gugun” palace museum in Beijing.

It is planned to hold Chinese culture days in Uzbekistan at the end of October, and Uzbekistan culture days in China next spring.

It was noted with satisfaction that the interest in learning the Chinese language is increasing in Uzbekistan, especially among young people. The effective activity of the Confucius Institute in Tashkent and Samarkand greatly contributes to this. Plans to expand Chinese language teaching and exchange between young scholars were outlined.

The President of Uzbekistan proposed to open branches of China’s leading Xinhua University and Beijing University in Tashkent.

Opinions were exchanged on regional agenda and topical issues of international politics.

It was confirmed that the “One China” policy and the stance on fighting the “three evil forces” will not change.

At the meeting, it was agreed to adopt a “roadmap” for the implementation of the initiatives put forward.

At the end of the negotiations, the head of our state invited the chairman of the PRC to visit Uzbekistan.

The meeting was held in a reliable, open and friendly spirit as always.