MOSCOW, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- China and Uzbekistan should accelerate bilateral cooperation to further promote bilateral ties, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Thursday.

Wang made the remarks while meeting with his Uzbek counterpart Abdulaziz Kamilov on the sidelines of a foreign ministers' meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Moscow.

Wang said Chinese President Xi Jinping and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev have established strong friendship and mutual trust, which not only provides a solid political guarantee for the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, but also injects strong impetus into the all-around cooperation between the two sides.

Both countries should continue to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and lay out ahead of schedule and strengthen the planning, so as to accelerate bilateral cooperation and ties in the post-pandemic era, Wand noted.

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China and Uzbekistan have carried out fruitful cooperation in fighting the pandemic, Wang said.

China is willing to continue to provide anti-pandemic assistance to meet the needs of Uzbekistan, especially to build a China-Uzbekistan traditional medical center to play a positive role in fighting the pandemic and safeguarding people's health in the country, he said.

He also noted that both sides should deepen cooperation in building the Belt and Road, actively discuss the construction of China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway in the spirit of openness and with a scientific attitude, strengthen communication and coordination on the Afghanistan issue and other flashpoints in the region, as well as promote new development of China-Uzbekistan relations in various fields.

For his part, Kamilov said when Uzbekistan was confronting the COVID-19 pandemic, China was the first country to give a helping hand, recalling that China sent medical experts to Uzbekistan and selflessly supported its fight against the pandemic.

He said Uzbekistan is committed to deepening a fruitful comprehensive strategic partnership with China, maintaining and strengthening communication and exchanges at all levels, and promoting joint building of the Belt and Road, especially the exchange of experiences in poverty reduction.

Uzbekistan highly values and supports the foreign ministers' meeting mechanism between five Central Asian countries and China, and is ready to strengthen communication and cooperation with China on regional and international issues.