Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Thursday said issues related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong are China's internal affairs and Uzbekistan will continue to support China in safeguarding its national sovereignty and security. 

Mirziyoyev made the remarks during his meeting with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. 

Virus origins-tracing is a scientific issue and should be left to scientists, Mirziyoyev said, adding that Uzbekistan opposes politicizing the issue.  

The president added that his country supports the hosting of the Beijing Winter Olympics and is ready to work with China to promote greater development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. 

Wang, for his part, said some countries do not want to see China's rapid development and spread lies and rumors everywhere, trying to interfere in China's internal affairs and block China's development. 

Wang said he believes that Uzbekistan can stand on the right side and maintain the high-level mutual trust between the two countries. 

He promised to continue China's support in Uzbekistan's fight against the pandemic, provide the country with China's vaccines, and cooperate with Uzbekistan in joint vaccine production. 

China highly values its connectivity with Uzbekistan, and is willing to speed up the joint construction of Belt and Road to help the country achieve more sustainable development, said Wang.