On February 28, Tashkent hosted an International Conference “Uzbekistan and China: Advancing mutually beneficial cooperation for the peoples of both countries”, dedicated to the results of the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan to China.

Director of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies (ISRS) under the President of Uzbekistan Eldor Aripov addressed the panel session on “All-weather all-round strategic partnership: A new stage of relations between Uzbekistan and China”.

In his report, the expert analyzed the key results of the summit of the two countries’ leaders.

Regarding the high effectiveness of the state visit of the President of Uzbekistan, Eldor Aripov highlighted several main elements.

First, the significant event of the visit was raising relations between Uzbekistan and China to the level of an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership in a new era, which, according to the ISRS Director, is quite logical.

“Over the past time, we have come quite a long way. We have formed a solid contractual and legal basis for bilateral cooperation, numbering about three hundred documents”, the expert concluded.

In addition, he believes an active political dialogue has been established at the intergovernmental, interparliamentary, and interagency levels.

With the adoption of the Joint Statement, relations are brought to such a high level of political trust that they will remain stable, regardless of the dynamics of the international situation.

Second, the summit of the two countries’ leaders confirmed that relations between Uzbekistan and China are based on the principle of mutual interest.

Eldor Aripov emphasized that “our agenda is built outside of any geopolitical situation and has a pragmatic context”.

All agreements, based on the results of negotiations at the highest level, pursue specific results and are focused on solving socio-economic problems and improving the population’s well-being. In particular, these documents provide for expanding imports of agricultural products from Uzbekistan, introducing water-saving technologies, training in poverty reduction, and much more.

In this context, they primarily aim to support the reforms promoted by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev as part of building New Uzbekistan.

Third, the visit demonstrated the establishment of cooperation between the two countries in fundamentally new areas.

Thus, as a result of high-level talks, an agreement was reached to intensify cooperation in e-commerce.

According to Eldor Aripov, in 2022, online sales in China amounted to about $2 trillion. The development of these sites by our manufacturers will open up enormous opportunities for them to develop the Chinese market.

This will give a powerful impetus to developing many sectors of Uzbekistan’s economy.

A new promising area of interaction between the two countries, according to the ISRS Director, is cooperation in electric vehicles.

Over the past three years, sales of these vehicles in Uzbekistan have increased ten times. China’s share of total car imports increased from 36% to 80%.

It was emphasized with satisfaction that during the state visit, Shavkat Mirziyoyev and the head of BYD jointly launched a project to assemble electric and hybrid cars in Jizzakh region. Notably, this will be BYD’s first joint production outside of China.

Fourth, the Council of Regions of Uzbekistan and China was established following the interregional forum in Urumqi.

Eldor Aripov states, “This is an essential step that will maintain interaction between regions not from forum to forum, but on an ongoing basis”.

“Direct ties between the two countries’ regions essentially act as strong connecting mechanisms that ensure the practical implementation of cooperation in all areas, " the expert concluded.

The conference, organized by the International Institute for Central Asia and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Uzbekistan in cooperation with the ISRS under the President of Uzbekistan and the chambers of commerce and industry of the two countries, was attended by heads and experts of leading research institutes of Uzbekistan and China, as well as representatives of Chinese companies in Uzbekistan.

UzA