Chinese premier holds talks with Uzbek PM to boost ties

BEIJING, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang held talks Tuesday with visiting Uzbek Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov, and the two sides agreed to cement cooperation.

Li said China attaches great importance to China-Uzbekistan relations and is willing to maintain close high-level exchanges with Uzbekistan, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and strengthen communication and coordination in international and regional affairs.

Li said China is ready to seek synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and Uzbekistan's development strategy, deepen cooperation in production capacity, interconnection and agriculture, and make efforts to ensure the stability of energy cooperation.

He expected the two sides to promote cooperation in culture, tourism and higher education, so as to consolidate the people-to-people foundation of bilateral ties.

China is willing to continue to expand the scale of bilateral trade, import Uzbek products that meet the needs of the Chinese market, and support capable Chinese companies investing in Uzbekistan in accordance with market rules, Li said, hoping Uzbekistan will create a good business environment.

Aripov said Uzbekistan is ready to continue to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, deepen cooperation in various fields, and welcome Chinese enterprises to expand investment in Uzbekistan, so as to push bilateral relations to a higher level.

The two leaders witnessed the signing of a series of cooperation documents after the talks.