China, Uzbekistan agree to strengthen cooperation

China and Uzbekistan have agreed to strengthen alignment of their development strategies and comprehensively deepen cooperation in various fields.

The agreement was reached when Meng Jianzhu, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee, met with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent on Sept. 9.

At the meeting, Meng recalled that the Chinese and Uzbek presidents met in May and unanimously decided to deepen the two countries' comprehensive strategic partnership featuring sincerity, mutual trust, mutual benefits and win-win cooperation, opening a new chapter for bilateral relations.

Mirziyoyev said that he highly appreciates China's efforts to implement the agreements reached by the two leaders, and that Uzbekistan attaches great significance to the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Uzbekistan is ready to seize the opportunity of the joint construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to push for more concrete achievements in bilateral cooperation to benefit the two peoples, he said.

Also on Sept. 9, Meng met with Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov. They co-chaired the fourth meeting of the committee for China-Uzbekistan intergovernmental cooperation.

Both sides agreed to strengthen cooperation in the fields of trade, energy, transportation, agriculture, science and technology, people-to-people exchange and security.