Vice Premier urges closer economic ties with Uzbekistan

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-06-28 09:27

TASHKENT: Visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Saturday called for closer economic ties between China and Uzbekistan while meeting with Uzbek First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov.

Vice Premier urges closer economic ties with Uzbekistan

Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang (R) meets with Uzbekistan First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on June 27, 2009. [Xinhua]

Li said China and Uzbekistan have deepened their pragmatic cooperation and achieved a lot in this regard in recent years.

Besides growing trade, bilateral cooperation in areas like investment and projects outsourcing also made rapid progress, he noted, adding the two sides have improved the quality and increased the level of bilateral, pragmatic cooperation with joint projects being carried out in energy, mining, transportation, agriculture, telecom, machinery, petrochemical and other sectors.

The Chinese leader called on the two sides to capitalize on the progress of bilateral cooperation, and take full advantage of the fact that the two economies are highly complementary to each other and the two countries enjoy geographical closeness.

He specifically said the two countries should continue to expand bilateral trade and two-way investment and spare no effort to carry out major joint infrastructure projects.

Meanwhile, the two sides should enhance cooperation in other areas and move faster on carrying out aid and loans initiatives to achieve mutually-beneficial and steady development of both economies, he added.

On broader bilateral relations, Li said the relationship between China and Uzbekistan has been developing smoothly as political trust between the two sides continues to deepen and cooperation in specific areas like economy, energy, transportation and security grows stronger day by day.

He noted China and Uzbekistan have supported each other on critical issues and worked closely within multilateral frameworks like the United Nations and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which has helped both sides safeguard their common interests and has had a positive impact on regional and world peace and stability.

Chinese President Hu Jintao met with his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, and also on the sidelines of the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries held in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg earlier this month.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao paid his first official visit to Uzbekistan in November 2007 after attending a meeting of the prime ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization countries held in the Uzbek capital Tashkent.

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