Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Chinese President Xi Jinping who was on an official visit to Uzbekistan on September 8 - 10 and his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov held talks on further development of bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting the Chinese president said that China and Uzbekistan are important strategic partners.

Jinping offered a five-point proposal on furthering pragmatic cooperation between the two countries.

He urged the two countries to raise the volume of trade turnover to $5 billion by 2017 and to start talks on a free trade zone as early as possible and expand mutual investment.

Jinping also called China and Uzbekistan to deepen energy cooperation by ensuring the safe and stable operation of the China-Uzbekistan gas pipeline and expanding cooperation in such areas as natural gas processing, oil shale development and renewable energy.

According to the Chinese president, the two countries should promote infrastructure connectivity and complete the rail and road networks linking China, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Jinping also said that China and Uzbekistan should build joint special industrial zones and agricultural demonstration parks, as well as develop cooperation in science and technology.

Lastly, Jinping urged the two countries to promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Karimov, in turn, said China has provided sincere help in Uzbekistan's development, and it has been proven by facts that China is a great neighbor and a reliable partner.

Uzbekistan also appreciates China's important contributions to world peace and development, he added.

Karimov also stressed that energy cooperation is considered a priority, pledging to build a safe and reliable natural gas pipeline connecting the two countries.

According to the Uzbek president, his country welcomes the investment of Chinese enterprises and is willing to promote the interconnectivity with China in such fields as trade, communication, transportation infrastructure and culture.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the situation in Central Asia and agreed to deepen their law enforcement and defense cooperation, combat terrorism, extremism and separatism, drug trafficking and transnational crimes, protect major cooperation projects, as well as maintain peace and stability of both countries and the whole region.

They also voiced their joint position on Afghanistan, pledging support for the reconciliation and reconstruction efforts in the country.

After their talks, the both presidents issued a joint declaration which envisaged further boosting of bilateral cooperation and deepening of strategic partnership between China and Uzbekistan.

Furthermore, the two presidents attended the ceremony of signing of a number of cooperation documents in such fields as economy and trade, energy, investment and financing.

In particular, an agreement was signed between the Chinese Export-Import Bank and the Industrial and Construction Bank of Uzbekistan (Uzpromstroybank).

According to the document, the Export-Import Bank of China will allot a loan worth $165.6 million to Uzbekistan for the modernization of the Angren thermal power plant in the Tashkent region.

The funds are allocated for a period of 20 years, including a five-year grace period.

According to the contract, the Chinese company will build a new energy bloc with a capacity of 150 MW for burning high-ash coal. The bloc is planned to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2016.

The project worth $242.6 million is financed through the loans of the Chinese Export-Import Bank and Uzbekenrgo's funds worth $75.1 million.

Furthermore, China and Uzbekistan signed an agreement on the principles of construction and operation of the Uzbekistan - China gas pipeline.

According to the document, the two countries will build the fourth branch of the Uzbekistan-China gas pipeline with a capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

The construction of a Central Asia - China gas pipeline began in 2008.

The pipeline is designed to export natural gas from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to China.

The total length of the gas pipeline is about 7,000 km.

The project's cost is about $2.2 billion, and its financing is carried out through credit from the China Development Bank as well as with the direct investments of the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC).

In total during the visit, the two countries signed 31 documents on joint implementation of projects with a total value of more than $15 billion, in which the financial resources of China will be around $7.7 billion.

Uzbekistan and China are developing cooperation in oil, gas, petrochemical, chemical and mining industries, in the fields of transport and logistics, the manufacturing industry, telecommunications, production of electrical technology and modern construction materials, as well as in a number of other sectors of the economy.

The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $3.23 billion in 2012. The dynamics of sustainable growth has been retained this year.

Some 455 enterprises with Chinese capital are operating in Uzbekistan.

The Chinese companies are involved in projects of exploration and exploitation of deposits of hydrocarbons, uranium and other precious materials, in the project of gas chemical complex in Mubarek and other high-tech industries.