Interview: Beijing Winter Olympics reveal consistency of five Central Asian countries' China policy -- political expert

TASHKENT, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- The participation of leaders of the five Central Asian countries in the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games is a landmark event demonstrating their well-considered and consistent China policy, an Uzbek political scientist has said.

The Beijing Winter Olympics will go down in history not only as the main sporting event of the year, but also as a symbol for achieving peace and prosperity in all countries of the world, Shoazim Shozamonov, an associate professor at the Faculty of Sinology of the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Before attending the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, leaders of the five Central Asian countries, namely Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and China held a virtual summit on Jan. 25, commemorating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the five countries.

According to the Uzbek expert, the online summit has set an important milestone in the development of Central Asia, highlighting the importance of relations between the region and China.

Talking about relations between Uzbekistan and China, Shozamonov said "the visit of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev to China as part of the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing contributes to further strengthening the Uzbekistan-China comprehensive strategic partnership as well."

The history of relations between the Uzbek and Chinese peoples dates back to the days of the Great Silk Road, he stressed, noting that thanks to personal relations between leaders of the two countries, a favorable environment has been created for the formation of long-term and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries at the present stage.

"In recent years, China has been Uzbekistan's leading trading partner. Chinese companies are widely represented in various sectors of the Uzbek economy such as telecommunications, agriculture, production of high-tech goods," he said.

"Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Uzbekistan and China are making efforts to restore the economy, and it can be seen in the dynamics of Chinese investment in the Uzbek economy," added the scholar.

Regarding the priorities of bilateral cooperation, Shozamonov highlighted the transport and logistics sectors.

"Uzbekistan, together with Chinese partners, has launched multimodal transportation on the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan route," he said, noting that Uzbekistan is already to increase transit through its territory.

In this context, Shozamonov said, the launch of a regular international freight train route between China and Uzbekistan has helped confirm the latter's role as a transport hub.