"Through joint efforts with Uzbekistan, the Chinese side is making efforts to implement the agreements reached by the leaders of the two countries and to strengthen cooperation with Uzbekistan on a bilateral basis and within the framework of the SCO," said the Chinese Foreign Ministry report on Li Hui’s meeting with the Uzbek deputy foreign minister, Anvar Solihboyev, which was posted on the agency’s official website.

The Chinese diplomat believes such cooperation "will contribute to stability and development of the two countries and the whole region in general."

Anvar Solihboyev, for his part, said that Uzbekistan was ready for "strengthening bilateral cooperation with China in the fields of politics, energy, security and humanitarian sphere as well as for close cooperation between the two countries on important international and regional issues."