Solid ties with Uzbekistan greatly assist with development

China and Uzbekistan are expected to elevate and upgrade their relationship and enrich the China-Uzbekistan community with a shared future as Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev will pay a state visit to the country from Tuesday.

The three-day visit will be Mirziyoyev's third to China in eight months, after he attended the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing in October and paid his last state visit to China in May.

"The upcoming visit fully demonstrates the high-level China-Uzbekistan relationship and the deep friendship between the two heads of state," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Friday.

Mao said that over the past 32 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China and Uzbekistan have experienced solid development in their ties and achieved fruitful results in all areas following the principles of mutual trust, good neighborliness and solidarity for win-win outcomes.

Bilateral ties have not only greatly contributed to the development and rejuvenation of both nations, but also injected positive energy into the peace and stability of Central Asia and the world, she said.

Mao added that a series of activities in culture, education and local cooperation will be held during Mirziyoyev's visit, aimed at deepening cooperation in various fields and bringing more benefits to both countries and their peoples.

China is the largest trading partner of, and a major investor in, Uzbekistan, with bilateral cooperation covering areas such as infrastructure, agriculture, chemicals and energy.

Mirziyoyev was reelected as the Uzbek president in July last year after he previously won presidential elections in 2016 and 2021. In January 2020, he officially recognized that poverty is an enormous social problem for the country.

The Uzbek president has said on many occasions that China's experience in poverty reduction is noteworthy and sent delegations to China to study the experience and develop new approaches.

In November, the Uzbek language edition of President Xi Jinping's book on poverty relief Up and Out of Poverty was launched in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan. In a foreword written by Mirziyoyev, he said: "The book vividly tells the arduous road of poverty alleviation that China has gone through with vivid examples, profoundly summarizes China's practical experience in poverty alleviation, and highlights the hardworking quality of the Chinese people."

Last month, the two countries held via video link the first meeting of the subcommittee on China-Uzbekistan poverty reduction cooperation, the first of its kind that China established with other countries at the governmental level.

Timur Abdullaev, head of the International Cooperation Division of Agency for the Development of Public Service under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, said that over the past five years, approximately 4,200 civil servants from Uzbekistan have participated in training courses in China covering areas such as poverty reduction.

"The ongoing cooperation in personnel training between the two countries is contributing to the closer bonds between the two peoples," Abdullaev said.