On January 23, Minister Wang Wentao of Commerce met with Jamshid Khodjaev, Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan, in Beijing upon request and exchanged views on preparations for President Mirziyoyev’s state visit on trade and economic fronts. Laziz Kudratov, Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan also attended the meeting.

Wang said under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, the pragmatic economic and trade cooperation between China and Uzbekistan has achieved fruitful results. China-Uzbekistan trade hit a record high in 2023. China has been Uzbekistan’s largest trading partner for many years, and Uzbekistan has become a hot investment destination for Chinese companies. China actively supports Uzbekistan’s accession to the WTO, and stands ready to enhance strategic alignment with Uzbekistan, jointly implement the inter-governmental plan on trade and investment cooperation, make good use of the working mechanism of trade and investment, deepen cooperation in energy, mining and infrastructure, expand new growth areas of cooperation in green energy, digital trade and cross-border e-commerce, and bring into play the enthusiasm of sub-national cooperation.

Khodjaev said China is one of Uzbekistan’s most important trade and investment partners. Uzbekistan is willing to work with China to make preparations for the economic and trade issues and outcomes of President Mirziyoyev’s visit and push bilateral economic and trade cooperation to a new level.