China and Uzbekistan enjoy a profound and full-fledged partnership, said a senior Uzbek official, while hailing China's role in helping to achieve sustainable development of the Central Asian country.
In an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG) aired on Friday, Sodiq Safoyev, first deputy chairman of Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan, reaffirmed that one-China principle is a cornerstone of Uzbek foreign policy, adding that China and Uzbekistan support each other on many issues.
"Definitely. Never before did we have such a profound and full-fledged partnership. Of course, the first factor determining such a situation is the personal trust and relationship between two leaders. And I think that due to that today we might think that political dialogue is without any cloud on the sky. We fully support each other on the international organizations, and Uzbekistan firmly supports the stance of China vis-a-vis the confronting three evils. [The] One-China approach (principle) is a strong foundation of Uzbek foreign policy. At the same time, China always expresses its unwavering support to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity of Uzbekistan. And we think that today we might see that China's presence in Central Asia and in Uzbekistan is a factor of sustainable development," said Safoyev.
Safoyev also recognized China as Uzbekistan's major economic partner.
"China's presence, it's about helping the development. For instance, today, China is number one economic partner of Uzbekistan. Our bilateral trade is more than 17 billion U.S. dollars. For Uzbekistan, it's a big figure. More than 6,000 Chinese companies are working in Uzbekistan in different fields, [such as] energy, not only traditional energy but the new renewable energy, especially Chinese companies working with the solar energy, wind energy - they are very important for upgrading the level of the Uzbek economy. Chinese companies working in construction, in transportation are very important for modernization of Uzbek economy and linking it to the world markets," he said.
Uzbek official hails China's role in sustainable development of Uzbekistan
