Within the framework of the 43rd Session of the UNESCO General Conference in Samarkand, negotiations were held between the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Kongratbay Sharipov and the Minister of Education of the People’s Republic of China Huai Jinpeng.

Issues of expanding cooperation in education, science, and innovation, particularly in promising areas such as engineering, vocational education, digital technologies, and teacher training, were discussed at the meeting.

The 29 joint educational programs launched between universities of the two countries, as well as the opening of the Muhammad al-Khwarizmi International Mathematical Center at Urgench State University in cooperation with Peking University, were noted.

During the dialogue, plans were also discussed to open a Samarkand branch of Xi'an Petroleum University and establish an Engineering Innovation Laboratory in cooperation with the Beijing Institute of Technology.

An agreement was reached on the development of the Uzbekistan – China Alliance of Vocational Education, the implementation of the Chinese Workshops project in each field, and the strengthening of cooperation in digital education. Kongratbay Sharipov also suggested practical steps to develop Chinese language teaching, train simultaneous interpreters, and highly qualified linguists.

Following the meeting, the ministers agreed to take cooperation to a new level, including by promoting specific initiatives within the framework of the Second Uzbekistan - China Education Forum, to be held on November 2-3 in Tashkent.

G.Khasanov, UzA