OREANDA-NEWS. April 25, 2011. President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov paid a state visit to China on the invitation of the Chairman of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao.

The program of the visit had a rich and dynamic character. One hour after landing at the Beijing airport, the ceremony of the official meeting of the President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov was held at the National People’s Congress building, followed by negotiations with President of China Hu Jintao and signing of a solid package of documents.

At the beginning of negotiations, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov said: “We consider this visit of the delegation of Uzbekistan as a logical continuation of the intensive development of bilateral and multilateral relations between our countries, as an opportunity to discuss and exchange views on major issues of mutual interest, and to give a new impetus to our fruitful cooperation.”

The heads of two states held a thorough and trustful exchange of views on topical issues of bilateral and multilateral character, including cooperation in the political sphere, economy, trade, investment, cultural and humanitarian fields, and problems of security.

The content of the talks and the scale of the discussed issues of the state importance show how seriously the parties prepared the agenda for bilateral relations and the solution of the strategic objectives faced by the two countries.

President Hu Jintao said that relations between Uzbekistan and China were entering a new phase, transiting to a qualitatively new stage, characterized by the beginning of a large-scale cooperation in the sphere of high technologies.

Important agreements were reached in the political and economic spheres, and a number of documents were signed in the promising areas of cooperation.

On the second day of the visit, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov held a meeting with Prime Minister of China Wen Jiabao. They discussed in detail the issues of practical implementation of agreements reached the day before by the heads of two states to cardinally expand economic, trade and investment cooperation in the coming years.

The Chinese side gave a high evaluation to the dynamics of economic development and large-scale structural reforms in Uzbekistan and expressed interest in developing cooperation in hi-tech sphere, including through establishment of industrial and technological parks.

President of Uzbekistan also held a meeting with the Chairman of the National People’s Congress Wu Bangguo, during which they exchanged opinions on issues of interstate cooperation and development of interparliamentary relations.

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov in his residence received Foreign Minister of China Yang Jiechi. Their conversation focused on important issues of cooperation between Uzbekistan and China in political and diplomatic spheres, as well as issues of regional and international policy.

In accordance with the visit program, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov met the Minister of Commerce Chen Deming and the management of the leading Chinese companies and banks. The sides discussed prospects of implementation of projects in the sphere of high technologies and attracting Chinese investment in priority sectors of the economy of Uzbekistan.

Minister of Commerce and the leading representatives of Chinese business noted the relevance and importance of the Intergovernmental Agreement on the Protection and Promotion of Investments signed during the visit.

The management of the Ex-Im Bank and the State Bank of China highlighted the high level of stability and reliability of the banking system of Uzbekistan, which was again proved during the global financial crisis.

The leading Chinese banks confirmed their readiness to finance joint projects and informed that during the visit they opened new credit lines to four Uzbek banks in the amount of USD 1.5 billion for implementation of joint investment projects.

The People’s Bank of China and the Central Bank of Uzbekistan also signed an Agreement on currency swap in soums and yuans, which significantly expands the possibilities of investment and trade cooperation.

The talks with the leadership of China demonstrated an intensive and rapid development and enormous potential in all key areas of bilateral relations.

President of China Hu Jintao expressed gratitude to President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov for the significant increase of supply of strategic raw materials from Uzbekistan for the growing needs of the Chinese economy. As a result, the total volume of bilateral trade over the past five years has increased more than four times.

The importance was emphasized of further expansion of exports to China of such strategic commodities as cotton, natural gas, uranium concentrate, non-ferrous metals, rare elements and mineral fertilizers on a long-term and stable basis. In this regard, the parties agreed on the extension of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Trade in Strategic Goods until 2020.

The Chinese leadership noted the importance of the Agreement on Construction of the Third Line of Uzbekistan-China Gap Pipeline, signed during the visit, in accordance with which the capacity of the pipeline will be increased by 25 billion cubic meters per year.

The heads of states stressed that although cooperation in supplies of strategic materials was of fundamental importance, the main direction of further deepening of cooperation between Uzbekistan and China was realization of promising projects associated with the attraction of high technologies in Uzbekistan with the aim of creating new and modernizing the existing production facilities.

During the visit, agreements were signed on implementation of large-scale investment projects in the chemical, oil and gas, energy and transport sectors, including such objects as construction of the second turn of Dekhkanabad potash fertilizer plant, organization of production of automotive and agricultural tires and conveyor belts in Angren, butadion rubbers, liquefied natural gas, methanol, monochloroacetic acid, new power units at thermal power plants, modernization and development of coal industry, supply of modern locomotives and others.

Agreements were reached on implementing joint investment projects with leading telecom companies of China Huawei and ZTE.

Particular attention was paid to development of transport and communication networks, creating reliable corridors linking Uzbekistan and China. The issue of opening an air bridge from East China to Navoi airport to Europe, as well as construction of a railway line linking Uzbekistan and China by the shortest route was discussed.

President of China Hu Jintao, discussing the prospects of trade-economic and investment cooperation, especially emphasized that China in the face of Uzbekistan saw a reliable partner with which it was building relationships on a long-term basis.

One of the major outcomes of the visit is an agreement on the establishment of the High Level Cooperation Committee between Uzbekistan and China, which should create a reliable institutional framework for systemic development of relations between the two countries on all aspects of bilateral relations.

The main document on the results of the visit was the Joint Declaration between the Republic of Uzbekistan and the People’s Republic of China signed by the heads of states, which gives an assessment of the state and development prospects of further cooperation on a long-term basis.

The sides expressed satisfaction with the constructive interaction within the UN and other major international political and financial institutions. They confirmed the great importance attached to the development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and expressed willingness to continue the mutually beneficial regional partnership in economy, trade, investment, energy, transport and communication sectors.

Uzbekistan firmly and consistently supports the deeply developed and balanced policy of the Chinese leadership, its principal policy of one-China, and an uncompromising struggle against the “three evils” – terrorism, extremism and separatism.

The Chinese side expressed full understanding of the concerns of the Republic of Uzbekistan on the rational use of water energy resources in Central Asia.

Overall, more than 25 interstate, intergovernmental and interdepartmental documents were signed during the visit. Under the reached agreements, implementation of large number of investment projects worth over USD 5 billion is planned.

President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov thanked President of China Hu Jintao for the warm reception and hospitality and invited him to visit Uzbekistan with a state visit, which was gratefully accepted.