SCO Astana summit brings up new opportunities for Sino-Uzbek cooperation

On July 3-4, the Kazakh capital of Astana successfully hosted the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Today, the SCO unites about half of the world's population, representing a powerful platform for multilateral and fruitful cooperation in all areas.

China and Uzbekistan, which are among the founding members of the SCO, see this organization as playing a key role in safeguarding national interests and regional stability. During the Astana summit, the leaders of the two countries held bilateral talks, where they once again emphasized the importance of the chosen course of comprehensive strategic partnership and outlined plans to implement the existing agreements.

Strengthening of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Uzbekistan and China has contributed to the intensification of cultural exchanges, unlocking of tourism potential and strengthening of the dynamics of trade and economic relations. Certainly, this process is gaining even greater momentum under the conditions of "New Uzbekistan".

The term "New Uzbekistan" has been actively used since 2017, symbolizing a new stage in Uzbekistan's development, socioeconomic and sociopolitical reforms and openness to the outside world. It is important to note here that President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev has repeatedly emphasized the importance of studying and applying China's experience in transforming Uzbekistan.

Today, the experience of the Chinese miracle is actively studied and implemented at the level of think tanks, ministries and agencies of Uzbekistan, and is also the focus of attention of domestic scholars. Uzbekistan's scholars have published more than 100 textbooks, training manuals, monographs and phrasebooks on China studies.

All these factors make it possible to gain a deeper understanding of the Chinese model of development, to conduct comparative analysis and to make proposals and recommendations for Uzbekistan. The Ministry of Employment and Poverty Reduction of Uzbekistan alone has prepared 18 targeted socioeconomic projects on poverty reduction in the regions of Uzbekistan based on the study of the People's Republic of China's experience and with the participation of Chinese experts.

Due to the political will of the leaders of Uzbekistan and China, today cooperation is observed across formats such as the intergovernmental committee, the interparliamentary group, the strategic dialogue at the level of foreign ministers, and interregional dialogue.

The last format is relatively new, where regional leaders, based on the socioeconomic priorities of their regions, cooperate, meet and exchange experiences with Chinese partners. For instance, leaders of all regions of Uzbekistan have repeatedly visited China, and delegations from China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and provinces of Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, Shaanxi and Shanghai have visited Uzbekistan over the past six months. This format is already showing results with friendship between the regions of our countries strengthening, and many of them establishing the status of twin cities.

The result of close cooperation and strategic partnership in recent years can be seen in a number of key indicators. For instance, in 2015, the trade turnover between the two countries stood at $4.1 billion. By 2023, it had increased 3.5-fold to $13.7 billion, and China became Uzbekistan's leading trade partner by the end of that year. In 2015, the total volume of Chinese investment and loans in the Uzbekistan economy exceeded $6.5 billion. This figure is over $12 billion now. Again in 2015, the number of enterprises in Uzbekistan operating with Chinese capital stood at 650.Today there are more than 2,500 such companies.

Today, many major Chinese brands are present in Uzbekistan. An important event in the current year was the launch of the first Central Asian production facility for BYD electric cars in Jizzakh region. The first Sino-Uzbek technological park was launched in Jizzakh region this year, which is expected to create more than 5,000 jobs and implement 30 projects, and for which Chinese investors will allocate $1.2 billion.

The opening of the first regional branch of a Chinese bank, the Export-Import Bank of China, is also expected soon. This will open up additional opportunities for partnership with Chinese financial structures and create new opportunities for trade and economic growth. In particular, the construction of Uzbekistan's first Olympic city in Tashkent, which will host the 2025 Asian Youth Games, is being finalized with the assistance of the Export-Import Bank of China.

Uzbek President Mirziyoyev, during his visit to China in January 2024, noted that relations between Uzbekistan and China "are experiencing the best period in their history, demonstrating consistently high dynamics".

The Belt and Road Initiative has played an important role in achieving these results. Since the initiative was proposed in 2013 by President Xi Jinping, Uzbekistan has been an active participant, implementing with Chinese partners large joint investment projects in high technology, green energy, chemistry, mechanical engineering, metallurgy, electrical engineering, infrastructure modernization, transportation and logistics.

The meeting of the leaders of the two countries in Astana once again showed the deep respect the leaders have for each other, and the mutual trust and desire for further strategic partnership and cooperation in all spheres.

The author is rector of Diplomat University in Tashkent.