Chinese firms look to expand trade, set up shop in Central Asian nation

More Chinese companies are seeing opportunities brought by the opening up of Uzbekistan to set up businesses in the Central Asian nation, making it easier to expand their trade in the region and to Europe.

"By setting up a factory in Uzbekistan, we reduced the cost of our products by about 50 percent compared with sending them from China by train," said Zhou Jiaqiang, who manages a ceramic tile factory 70 km from Tashkent, the Uzbek capital.

He said that as Uzbekistan's economy develops and people's livelihood improve, construction materials are in high demand.