Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Increasing exports to China is of particular relevance for the development of the Uzbek economy. Obid Khakimov, director of the Center for Economic Research and Reforms (CERR), said this today, speaking at the conference “Uzbekistan and China: promoting mutually beneficial cooperation for the benefit of the peoples of the two countries.” 

At the same time, Uzbekistan and China plan to increase the volume of mutual trade to US$20 billion in the near future.

According to CERR estimates, it will be possible to achieve the indicated trade volumes by increasing the export of fruits and vegetables, food and textile products, finished products, including copper, as well as chemical products.

The conference was attended by: the head of the diplomatic mission of China in Uzbekistan, representatives of scientific centers and ministries of Uzbekistan, representatives of Chinese business and scientific circles.

During his speech, the expert emphasized the establishment between Uzbekistan and China of an “all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership,” as previously stated in the “Joint Statement” of the leaders of the two countries in January of this year.

Then, during the negotiations, the heads of state noted that over the past years a powerful breakthrough had been made in bilateral relations. In recent years, the volume of Chinese investments in the economy of Uzbekistan has increased 5 times, the number of joint ventures has increased 3 times, exceeding 2.4 thousand units, and accumulated Chinese investments have reached US$14 billion.

A significant increase in the volume of mutual trade was noted; at the end of 2023, China took first place among the countries of Uzbekistan’s trading partners in terms of trade turnover and imports and second in terms of export volumes. China’s share in Uzbekistan’s total trade turnover was almost 22%, in imports about 30% and in exports more than 10%.

Thus, over the past 7 years, Uzbekistan’s trade turnover with China has increased almost 3 times from US$4.8 billion to US$13.7 billion, exports by 1.2 times from US$2.0 billion to US$2.5 billion, imports by 4.1 times - from US$2.7 billion to US$11.3 billion.

Speaking about the potential for expanding mutual trade, it was noted that China occupies a key role in world trade and ranks first in the world in terms of export volume and second in import volume. At the same time, China’s growing global importance in world trade is based on the inclusion of the country’s manufacturing sector in global supply chains.

In order to achieve the goal set by the leaders of our countries - to bring mutual trade turnover to US$20 billion, Uzbekistan is interested in the balanced growth of mutual supplies of industrial goods and agricultural products, the formation of an effective trade and logistics infrastructure and modern wholesale distribution networks, the introduction of a “green” corridor system, and also creating common e-commerce platforms.

“Issues of increasing Uzbekistan’s export volumes are of particular relevance for the development of our economy,” – emphasized the director of CERR.

The analysis carried out by CERR shows that Uzbekistan has the opportunity to increase the supply of its export products to the Chinese market, which China imports in large volumes from third countries. These are primarily fruits and vegetables, food, textile products, finished products, including copper products, chemical products and more.

In the development of investment cooperation and cooperation ties, it was noted that China is one of the main foreign investors in the economy of Uzbekistan. Thus, in accordance with the Uzbekistan-2030 Strategy, in the next 7 years it is planned to attract US$250 billion of investments into the country’s economy, of which US$110 billion of foreign investments and US$30 billion within the framework of public-private partnerships.

Uzbekistan is interested in further developing cooperative cooperation and increasing the volume of financing of joint projects with China for the deep processing of strategic raw materials mined in Uzbekistan and the implementation of socially important programs on the principles of public-private partnership.

Currently, important projects in the field of energy are being implemented in Uzbekistan, thanks to Chinese investments, including renewable energy, automotive, electrical industry, etc. For example, at the end of last year, with the participation of Chinese companies, two new solar power plants were put into operation in Uzbekistan with a capacity of 1000 MW.

As prospects for cooperation in the transport sector, Uzbekistan’s support and active participation in the Belt and Road Initiative programs was noted, as well as interest in the early start of practical work on the construction of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway.

According to various estimates, turning this route into a multimodal corridor with the construction of a railway along this route will reduce the distance of cargo delivery by 900 km and the time by 7-8 days. Transportation of goods in a volume of at least 5 million tons per year will be able to fully cover the costs of building this railway.

Speaking about the importance of sharing experience in the field of poverty reduction, the director of CERR drew the attention of those present to the issues of strengthening social protection of citizens and reducing poverty. By creating new jobs in Uzbekistan, vocational training, establishing entrepreneurship, providing land plots and other measures, it was possible to reduce the poverty level from 17% in 2021 to 11% in 2023.

“To address issues of poverty reduction in Uzbekistan, the advanced experience of China was actively used, which has achieved outstanding success in this direction and over the years of reforms has actually reduced the poverty level to zero. In the coming years, it is planned to reduce poverty in Uzbekistan by 2 times and the positive experience of China will be applied in this matter,” the expert noted.

In conclusion, Obid Khakimov expressed hope that in the coming years, Uzbekistan and China will effectively achieve their goals for overall development and prosperity.