ISRS expert: “Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Samarkand will give a new impetus to relations between Uzbekistan and China”
On September 14, President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping arrived in Samarkand on a state visit to attend the 22nd Meeting of the Council of Heads of SCO Member States.
On September 15, bilateral talks between the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Chinese Leader Xi Jinping took place at the Congress Center of the International Tourist Center “Great Silk Road”.
It is symbolic that the visit of the Chinese Leader coincided with the celebration of anniversaries in bilateral relations this year– the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the establishment of strategic partnership between the countries.
For Uzbekistan, China has always been and remains a friendly neighbor, a reliable and time-tested partner. Today, our bilateral relations have reached the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, the countries have achieved high dynamics of deepening multifaceted cooperation in all spheres – trade-economic, socio-political and cultural-humanitarian.
China has a strong leading position as a trade-economic and investment partner of Uzbekistan. In 2021, the trade turnover amounted to $7.4 billion, and in January-May 2022, this figure reached $3.7 billion. Compared to 2020, the trade turnover has already grown by 15.6 percent.
Over the past five years, the total volume of mastered Chinese investments amounted to $8.4 billion, including $2.2 billion in 2021.
Joint projects are being fruitfully implemented in the oil and gas, chemical, telecommunications, infrastructure industries, hydropower, agriculture, the light industry, and the production of building materials. The Program for the Development of Trade, Economic and Investment Cooperation for 2022-2026 is being successfully implemented.
Cooperation between the two countries is dynamically enhancing education, science, culture, archeology, healthcare, sports, and tourism.
In recent years, promising areas such as green energy, the IT sector, the fight against poverty, e-commerce, artificial intelligence and others have become new drivers of cooperation between Uzbekistan and China.
The parties adopted a Joint Statement, which reflects the assessment of the state and further prospects for strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership. 15 documents were signed on strengthening cooperation in the digital economy, green development, mineral development, anti-corruption, construction, establishment of partnership between the regions of Uzbekistan, provinces and major cities of China.
Agreements were signed in trade-economic and investment cooperation worth $15 billion.
The leaders of the two countries stressed the importance of further implementation of breakthrough industrial cooperation projects, primarily in such areas as the automotive industry, green energy, agriculture and infrastructure development.
The main attention was also paid to humanitarian cooperation, including the expansion of cooperation programs in healthcare, vaccine production, science, education and culture. A cultural exchange program for 2022-2025 was adopted.
The visit of the Chinese President to Uzbekistan, as well as the results of the talks between the leaders of the two countries, indicate the desire of Beijing and Tashkent to bring bilateral relations to a new level by deepening a comprehensive strategic dialogue, strengthening and enhancing trade-economic, investment and cultural-humanitarian cooperation.
Madina Aripova,
Leading Researcher at ISRS under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
