Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds the first China-Uzbekistan foreign ministers' strategic dialogue with Uzbekistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Bakhtiyor Saidov, in Beijing on November 21, 2023. Photo: Xinhua

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held the first China-Uzbekistan foreign ministers' strategic dialogue with Uzbekistan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Bakhtiyor Saidov on Tuesday in Beijing, in which the two sides held comprehensive and in-depth communication. Wang said that China opposes any external forces interfering in the internal affairs of Central Asian countries under any pretext.

At the invitation of Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Bakhtiyor Saidov is visiting China from November 19 to 22, according to China's Foreign Ministry. 

The two sides reached broad consensus on implementing the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and strengthening the synergy of development strategies, and jointly announced the establishment of a strategic dialogue mechanism between the two countries' foreign ministers.

Wang stated that China and Uzbekistan are friendly neighbors with a shared destiny. Regardless of how the international situation changes, the bilateral relationship has always maintained healthy and stable development, and has maintained its vitality.

China is willing to work with Uzbekistan to make good use of the new platform of China-Uzbekistan foreign ministers' strategic dialogue, advance all-round mutually beneficial cooperation and speed up the building of a China-Uzbekistan community of shared future, Wang noted.

During the meeting, Wang called on the two sides to consolidate the belief of solidarity and mutual trust, advocating and practicing real multilateralism, promoting the development of global governance toward a more fair and reasonable direction.

Wang also stressed the importance to build an engine for common development, as well as cultivating public opinion toward an everlasting friendship.

Wang called for further strengthened cooperation in counter-terrorism, drug enforcement, combating transnational organized crime, and cyber and biological security. China opposes any external forces interfering in the internal affairs of Central Asian countries under any pretext, Wang stressed.

Saidov said that Uzbekistan cherishes the solid mutual trust between the heads of state of the two countries and the friendly neighborly relations between the two sides. Uzbekistan supports a series of global initiatives proposed by China and will continue to adhere to the one-China principle, firmly support each other, and deepen strategic mutual trust, Saidov said.

On the Palestinian issue, Saidov highly appreciated China's impartiality in hosting and support its insistence on the "two-state solution," to jointly promote a fair resolution.

Global Times