Chinese President Xi Jinping eyes closer cooperation with Uzbekistan, describing the bilateral ties as being at the highest level during a phone conversation with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Wednesday.

Xi once again extended congratulations to Mirziyoyev on his re-election as Uzbekistan's president on the call.

According to Xi, cooperation between China and Uzbekistan has reached the highest level since the two countries signed a new five-year cooperation plan that upgrades their ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Xi spoke highly of the mutual support and exchanges between the two countries in their development process and the context of the pandemic outbreak and reiterated China's support for Uzbekistan's development path.

Noting that next year will be the 30th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, Xi called on the two sides to take the opportunity to strive to conduct more pragmatic cooperation to benefit the two peoples.

Stressing that the two sides should strengthen political interconnection to push forward all-around cooperation, the Chinese president also hopes the two countries would expand economic and trade investment and explore potentials in areas such as the digital economy and cross-border e-commerce.

He assured his Uzbek counterpart that China is ready to import more green and qualified agricultural products from the country and expects that the two countries can also expand cooperation in the oil and gas industry.

Xi added that China and Uzbekistan should also enhance cooperation in poverty alleviation, cultural exchanges, pandemic control, law enforcement and security.

Noting that Uzbekistan took over the rotating presidency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) from Tajikistan since September, Xi said China stands ready to work with Uzbekistan to enhance coordination and cooperation under the SCO framework to contribute to regional cooperation in all areas.

Mirziyoyev, for his part, thanked Xi for his congratulatory message and his confidence in Uzbekistan's national development.

The Uzbek president highly praised China's contribution to economic development and poverty alleviation and said he is ready to learn governance experience from China.

Appreciating China for its generous support during Uzbekistan's fight against the pandemic, Mirziyoyev voiced firm support for China on issues related to its core interests and opposition against any attempt to politicize the origin tracing issue of the COVID-19.

The two sides agreed to deepen the bilateral ties and enhance cooperation on economic and trade, poverty alleviation and connectivity.

The two sides also exchanged views on the Afghanistan issue.