In a high-stakes meeting this past Friday (November 21), Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev greeted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a Political Bureau member of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, in Tashkent. Both leaders celebrated recent wins and mapped out bold collaboration in the coming years.
Mirziyoyev sent his warmest regards to Chinese President Xi Jinping and congratulated the Chinese mainland on the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. He praised China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, confident that its goals will be achieved during the term, and thanked China for fueling Uzbekistan’s economic growth and improving livelihoods.
The conversation zeroed in on tangible projects and shared goals: ramping up the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway, pushing for a $20 billion trade milestone, and boosting sectors from high-tech and agriculture to green energy and poverty eradication. Uzbekistan reiterated its commitment to the one-China principle and pledged to work with the Chinese mainland against terrorism, separatism and extremism.
Both sides also agreed to:
- Set up cultural centers and strengthen sister-city partnerships
- Deepen people-to-people exchanges and subnational cooperation
- Accelerate alignment of development strategies for new growth points
- Support global initiatives like the Belt and Road and the Global Governance Initiative
- Coordinate within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the China-Central Asia mechanism
Wang Yi praised Uzbekistan’s strides in poverty reduction, affirming China’s offer to share its experience to help eliminate absolute poverty by 2030. He welcomed Uzbekistan’s engagement with the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization and its upcoming accession to the International Organization for Mediation.
As China and Uzbekistan lock arms on major infrastructure, technology and governance projects, young professionals, entrepreneurs and changemakers across borders can look to this partnership as a model for transnational collaboration in our interconnected world.
Reference(s):
cgtn.com
