Presidents of Uzbekistan and China Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Xi Jinping signed a joint statement as an outcome of a summit in Beijing that declared the “all-weather” comprehensive strategic partnership between the countries.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev traveled to China for a three-day state visit. It was his first foreign trip in 2024 which he called “deeply symbolic”.
In a joint statement, the parties reaffirmed their intention to strengthen mutually beneficial partnership in various areas.
The “all-weather” partnership, a term proposed by the Chinese side, means fulfiling the responsibilities of partnership and addressing political and economic issues regardless of external conditions and the international situation.
In the presence of heads of states, more than 15 documents were signed between the governments and ministries of the two countries. Among them are agreements on cooperation in the areas of human resource development, environmental protection, and technical and economic cooperation.
The countries intend to deepen ties in railway development, addressing poverty reduction, standardization and tourism. The parties also agreed for a joint construction of the “Air Silk Road.”
Business-forum in Shenzhen
Besides Beijing, Shavkat Mirziyoyev visited Shenzhen, China’s third most populous city and a special economic zone in Guangdong Province. The city hosted the Uzbek-Chinese Investment Forum which brought together heads of ministries and regions of the two countries and more than 600 representatives of Chinese large businesses.
In his speech, Shavkat Mirziyoyev set a range of priorities of cooperation with China. Among them are expanding partnership with Chinese companies, introduction of a simplified procedure for attracting funds from Chinese financial institutions for infrastructure development projects, industrial cooperation in priority sectors, attraction of Chinese technologies in agriculture, partnership in “green” energy and participation of Chinese companies in the privatization program in Uzbekistan.
Launch of BYD plant in Jizzakh region
Following the forum, president of Uzbekistan visited the headquarters of BYD, China’s large manufacturer of transportation vehicles. Alongside the head of the company Wang Chuanfu, he launched BYD’s hybrid and electric cars production project in Jizzakh region of Uzbekistan.
With current capacity of 50,000 caps per year, the plant is expected to increase this figure to 300,000 and expand the model range considering the demand of the market.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev supported the plans to set up the assembling of BYD electric buses in Uzbekistan with localization of spare parts and establishment of engineering and service centers.
BYD delivered its 10,000th car to Uzbekistan. In the token of this milestone, Shavkat Mirziyoyev was presented with Yangwang U8, the company’s flagship SUV.
