Uzbekistan, China vow to strengthen strategic partnership

TASHKENT, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Uzbekistan and China vowed on Tuesday to further enhance their strategic partnership and deepen pragmatic bilateral cooperation.

Uzbekistan cherishes its friendly relations with China, and looks forward to a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled for September, Uzbek President Islam Karimov said during a meeting here with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Uzbekistan hopes that President Xi's visit will help lift the two countries' strategic partnership to a new high, said Karimov.

He reiterated that his country firmly supports China's efforts to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity and to fight the "three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism.

Wang, for his part, said that both sides should seize the opportunity of Xi's visit to further strengthen mutually- beneficial cooperation and enhance coordination in major international and regional affairs.

China is ready to provide full support for Uzbekistan in its preparations for the hosting of a high-level meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization later this year, added the minister.

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