China always a trustworthy friend and partner of Uzbekistan, says President Xi

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that China will always be a trustworthy friend and partner of Uzbekistan.

Xi made the remarks during a meeting with Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev ahead of the Astana summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana.

The meeting came months after the two leaders met in January during Mirziyoyev's state visit to China, where they announced the elevation of bilateral ties to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era to promote the construction of a China-Uzbekistan community with a shared future from a higher starting point.

Xi noted that China is speeding up efforts to advance Chinese modernization, and Uzbekistan is also comprehensively advancing the "Uzbekistan-2030" strategy.

"Our goal is both ambitious and simple, which is to deliver a better life for our people," he said.

China is ready to work with the Uzbek side to promote the high-quality development of bilateral relations for the two countries and two peoples, Xi said.

He urged the two sides to further advance the Belt and Road cooperation, well implement the medium- and long-term cooperation plan on economy, trade and investment, speed up the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, as well as cooperation in fields of photovoltaic, wind power and new energy vehicles, and continue to strengthen cooperation in poverty reduction and social governance.

China supports the expansion of exchanges between the two countries at the sub-national level, as well as exchanges in tourism, education and other fields, he said, noting China welcomes Uzbekistan's participation in the seventh China International Import Expo as the guest country of honor.

China is ready to work with Uzbekistan to speed up the implementation of the outcomes of the China-Central Asia Summit held in the city of Xi'an, strengthen coordination and cooperation, and ensure that the SCO always develops in a direction that serves the common interests of all parties, Xi said.

Mirziyoyev said the two sides jointly announced the elevation of ties to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for a new era in Beijing in January, which opened a new era of China-Uzbekistan relations.

He said that under the wise leadership of Xi, China has successfully coped with various risks and challenges and made world-leading achievements in the fields of economy, science and technology.

Uzbekistan firmly abides by the one-China principle and resolutely combats the "three evil forces" of terrorism, extremism and separatism, he added.

Uzbekistan is willing to work with China to be each other's reliable friend and partner, continue to respect, understand and support each other, and promote pragmatic cooperation in various fields to achieve more fruitful results, Mirziyoyev said.

He said Uzbekistan is willing to closely coordinate and cooperate with China within the China-Central Asia mechanism, the SCO, as well as other multilateral frameworks.

Uzbekistan is ready to promote the implementation of the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, which were proposed by Xi, Mirziyoyev said.

(With input from Xinhua)