As we reported earlier in Tashekent kicked off Uzbekistan-China Business Forum, which was organized by the newly created Committee for Investments of Uzbekistan.

Welcoming the forum participants, the Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister, Ulugbek Rozukulov noted that the bilateral ties have reached the strategic partnership level and are based on mutual respect and trust. In recent years Uzbekistan and China have been steadily advancing mutually beneficial ties in many areas, with trade and economic relations in focus.

- As a result, China has become Uzbekistan’s largest trade partners. Today, more than 700 companies with Chinese capital operate in Uzbekistan. Over the years, dozens of joint projects of strategic importance have been implemented and have become an important part of the ongoing structural reforms in the Uzbek economy," U. Rozukulov added.

The Chinese Ambassador to Uzbekistan Sun Lijie said -“Chinese companies received with great enthusiasm the establishment of the Committee for Investments in Uzbekistan. This will be an important step in Uzbekistan’s efforts aimed at improving the country’s investment climate and attracting foreign investment.”

- We are even more pleased with the fact that the new agency is holding its first event with China. We are convinced that forum’s outcomes will allow us to tap the full potential of bilateral relations. The Chinese side is ready to provide all kinds of assistance to the reforms being undertaken in Uzbekistan," the diplomat added.

In the framework of the business forum, representatives of Uzbek government bodies and firms made presentation of projects to Chinese partners, with an emphasis given to the favorable conditions for investors in the free economic zones.  Many promising areas of cooperation and concrete investment projects were discussed in detail during the negotiations in B2B format.

In an interview to Jahon IA, the first deputy chairman of the Committee for Investments, Timur Ishanov said that Chinese firms expressed interest in metallurgy, mining, power, infrastructure construction, transport, telecommunications projects. The Uzbek authorities and companies were very specific in the proposed investment projects.

The Vice President of Sinosteel Corporation, Hua Guanglin noted the growing interest of the Chinese businesses to Uzbekistan. "In the framework of the forum, we had very useful talks with representatives of Uzbek agencies and companies," Hua Guanglin said. "With some of them, we have reached preliminary agreements on establishing cooperation. It is also gratifying that during the visit we were able to see with our eyes the Uzbekistan’s level of development, with a steadily growing economy" - he added.