Tashkent, Uzbekistan (Uzdaily.com) – The 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization took place in Samarkand, the second largest city in Uzbekistan, on 15-16 September 2022.

During the Samarkand summit of the SCO, two Yuitun buses and 40 Yutun T7 buses were donated to Samarkand by the Chinese government to ensure uninterrupted transportation within the summit. On 10 Septembe, Deputy Minister of Transport of the Republic of Uzbekistan Jasurbek Choriev on behalf of the Uzbek side accepted the buses, donated by Yuitun.

The editors of the “Silk Road. Cultural development” recently interviewed several employees of Yuitun, who shared with journalists the stories of support for Yuitun vehicles for the SCO summit and friendly cooperation between Yuitun and Uzbekistan.

Successful undergoing a test of a summit in Samarkand

According to Van Penfay, a service manager for the Uzbek National Company Yuitun, the vehicles arrived in Tashkent on 18 August, less than a month before the start of the summit, which brought great benefits in learning drivers, checking vehicles and subsequent maintenance.

Van Penfay said that before the arrival of the car, Yuitun first conducted theoretical training for the client driver. On the day of the arrival of the vehicles, security officers are sent to customs to help the client in customs clearance. After the vehicle is customized, the staff will be quickly organized for practical training, inspecting the vehicle and checking the risks, and ultimately if the vehicle is normal, then the staff commission it.

“Thanks to the guarantee of the service and operation of this party of 40 conferences-buses T7, the customer -oriented concept of the service of Yuitun was highly appreciated by all layers of society in Uzbekistan, and also increased the recognition of the brand Yuitun and the influence of the Chinese brand,” said the regional manager for the CIS of Yuitun Siao Weitao.

The SCO summit in Samarkand was attended by the leaders of many countries, so “high standards and strict requirements” for the vehicles used to receive participants in the meeting are obvious. The conference organizers should not only strictly control the quality and operational characteristics of the vehicles, but also take into account the image of the manufacturers brand and their ability to guarantee the best of the best.

Fan Yazzyun, a customer manager Yuitun in Uzbekistan, says that Yuitun T7 is an independent brand and a high -class car, which was carefully created by Yuitun for 10 years. It completely adopts the design concept, focused on vehicles, the entire process of car production and high -class configuration, as well as a number of active security technologies. For example, T7 is equipped with four wide -angle sensors with a corridor beam technology, with a horizontal detection angle of 110 degrees, which fully ensures the safety of public and commercial transport. In conditions such as a high temperature of 40 degrees Celsius, low temperature -30 degrees Celsius and height of more than 4000 meters above sea level, T7 can maintain good working condition, and its power, efficiency, inhibition, control in management, comfort and others were fully checked.

According to reports, since its launch in May 2015, Yutong T7 has gradually become a "regular customer" in major conferences and events, and has gradually become a "synonymous" with high-end conference and event service vehicles. At many important diplomatic events, such as the Boao Forum for Asia, the G-20 Hangzhou Summit, the Belt and Road Summit, the China Two Sessions, the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, the SCO Qingdao Summit, etc., Yutong T7 provides high quality services with reliability and stability time and time again.

"Chinese brand" in action in Central Asia

Yutong entered the Uzbek market in 2012, and by August 2022, it had exported about 500 buses to Uzbekistan, which is more than 50% of the number of buses exported from China to Uzbekistan.

Fan Yajun said that currently, Yutong has signed a contract with three service stations in the Uzbek market, located in Tashkent, Bukhara and Samarkand, and has stocks of spare parts in Tashkent and Samarkand. At the same time, after the delivery of vehicles, customers are given a reserve of spare parts in the amount of US$1 million to ensure the operation of subsequent vehicles.

Fan Yajun said that in 2018, Yutong won the tender for the project order 168 ZK6122H9 in Uzbekistan, which became the largest supply order in the country. This project is also a typical case of the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. In 2021, 20 Yutong ZK6126BEVG electric buses were delivered to Uzbekistan, which helped Uzbekistan take the first step in the electrification of public transport.

"This batch of vehicles is the first batch of all-electric buses introduced in Uzbekistan and is operated and operated by the largest public transport group in the country. The public transport group conducted trial operation of buses of many brands for more than two years before deciding to mass purchase all-electric buses, and eventually opted for the all-electric Yutong buses," said Fan Yajun.

As Xiao Weitao said: with the implementation of the "One Belt - One Road" initiative, cooperation between China and Uzbekistan is expanding, while Yutong buses, as a representative of Chinese buses in the transport sector, are showing very good results and becoming the "Chinese brand" of mobility in Central Asian countries. Yutong buses will continue to facilitate mobility for the people of Uzbekistan, as well as indirectly create hundreds of jobs in the country.

Conquer customers with quality and service

Fan Yajun recalled that in 2019, the Uzbek side received 168 Yutong ZK6122H9 buses purchased by Uzbekistan Passenger Transport Service with joint funding from the Ministry of Transport and the National Bank of Uzbekistan.

"These 168 ZK6122H buses are upgraded version of Russian World Cup buses and are mainly used for inter-regional routes from Tashkent to other cities of Uzbekistan, as well as for international routes from Tashkent to Moscow, Kazan, Yekaterinburg and other cities. Distance from Tashkent to Moscow is more than 3,000 kilometers and takes six days each way. Long journey, poor road conditions and temperatures around minus 40 degrees Celsius in winter in some regions of Russia and sometimes up to 50 degrees Celsius in summer in Uzbekistan - these are the difficult operating conditions, with faced by vehicles in this region.To ensure the reliability of the vehicles, the company has upgraded the transmission, axles and other components of this batch of vehicles, and to improve the comfort of long-distance trips, the vehicles have been retrofitted with 220V inverters and USB ports on the seatbacks, as well as an HD TV, a room rest of the driver, toilets, etc. further," said Fan Yajun, that this is a typical case of how Yutong’s quality and service won the trust of the Uzbek market and passengers.

However, in the current context of serious global climate challenges, switching to new energy vehicles is a real challenge for every automaker.

In this regard, Xiao Weitao stated that Yutong will continue to provide high-quality products and services, and continue to develop the Uzbek market in terms of "quality and environmental friendliness." In the future, Yutong will adapt its natural gas and new energy buses for the Uzbek market, focusing on the safety, energy saving and environmental protection of new products, as well as building a deep sales network and a more complete after-sales service system in the Uzbek market.

It is reported that Yutong Corporation (Yutong) is a large commercial vehicle group, mainly engaged in vehicles and trucks, headquartered in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, and is the world’s largest new energy passenger car and commercial vehicle company. In 2021, the company’s domestic market share of large and medium-sized buses reached 38.2%, and products are sold in batches to more than 40 countries and regions in the world, with a cumulative export of more than 80,000 vehicles.