Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) – 1 October marks the Day of Education of the People’s Republic of China. This year, the PRC turns 71. On the occasion of the solemn holiday, the Chinese Embassy in Uzbekistan released a video in which the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ms. Jiang Yan spoke about the development of the country and Uzbek-Chinese relations in the current year.

Jiang Yan noted that China is completing its comprehensive construction of a moderately prosperous society by the end of the year. The sudden outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the pace of development in China, but the country has made great strides in the fight against the pandemic and has shown strong growth after a short economic pause - in the second quarter, China’s GDP grew by 3.2% year-on-year. In the face of the challenges of the pandemic, as well as severe floods that have engulfed most of China since July this year, the Chinese government is doing everything possible to ensure the personal and property security of the people, and confidently leads the people in moving forward towards their intended goal.

Jiang Yan recalled that this year the concept of a community of the common destiny of mankind, put forward by President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping, is widely accepted in the international arena. The first to suffer from the epidemic, China immediately informed the World Health Organization about the incident and is constantly sharing with other countries its accumulated experience in the prevention and control of the epidemic. China has donated US$50 million to WHO and has provided assistance to over 150 countries and international organizations. To help its partners’ economic recovery, China has increased investment in countries along the Belt and Road to US$8.12 billion, up 19.4% from the same period last year. China is firmly implementing the concept of a community of the common destiny of mankind and by its actions seeks to build a new type of interstate relations on the principles of mutual respect, justice and mutually beneficial cooperation.

This year, Uzbek-Chinese relations have stood the test and are becoming more stable and stronger. According to Jiang Yan, China and Uzbekistan have supported each other and achieved great success in countering the epidemic and developing bilateral relations. In May this year, President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping and President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a telephone conversation and reached a common understanding on a wide range of issues of multifaceted interaction in bilateral and multilateral dimensions. The parties maintain close contacts at different levels and in different areas. At a critical moment in the fight against the pandemic, representatives of the general public of China and Uzbekistan extended a helping hand and exchanged experiences. For the implementation of joint projects, more than 1,300 Chinese specialists arrived in Uzbekistan on charter flights without any hesitation and gave impetus to the recovery of the Uzbek economy. The parties achieve new successes in cooperation in agricultural trade, transport, science and technology, energy, etc.

In conclusion, Jiang Yan expressed confidence in the wonderful future of cooperation between China and Uzbekistan. “The pandemic cannot darken development prospects, and temporary difficulties will not stop the steps towards cooperation. The peoples of China and Uzbekistan, who go forward hand in hand, will certainly expect a safer and more beautiful world, full of energy and vigor! " Jiang Yan said.