Uzbekistan, China Vow to Strengthen Bilateral TiesUzbek Prime Minister Utkur Sultanov met Thursday in Tashkent with visiting Chinese Vice Premier Li Lanqing and the two sides agreed to further strengthen bilateral ties.Li, who was here on a two-day official visit, expressed satisfaction with the stable and sound development of the Sino-Uzbek relations over the past few years. The Chinese vice premier pointed out that there are great potentials in Sino-Uzbek cooperation, especially in natural gas, railway transport and telecommunications. He expressed appreciation for the Uzbek government's positive China policy. Sultanov praised Li for his part in opening Uzbek-Chinese relations. Li led a Chinese government delegation to Uzbekistan nine years ago to sign documents on the establishment of the Sino- Uzbek diplomatic relations. Sultanov said Uzbekistan highly values its ties with China in all the fields ranging from politics, economy and trade, to science and education. Tashkent has been closely following China's progress of reform and opening-up, maintaining that China's road of development can serve as a reference for Uzbekistan, Sultanov said. Uzbekistan is the first leg of Li's three-nation Eurasia tour. He will also visit Georgia and France. Li left for Tbilisi later Thursday after a tour of the Chikarov Aircraft Plant near Tashkent and the ancient city of Samarkand. |
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