Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Today, joint large-scale work is underway between Uzbekistan and the People’s Republic of China to further strengthen tourism ties, increase bilateral tourist exchange and effectively use the opportunities of new tourism destinations developing in our country.

In particular, it is necessary to harmoniously develop medical and health tourism and double the share of people coming for treatment from abroad. An important place is occupied by traditional medicine, which has been tested in practice in terms of quality, safety and effectiveness in ensuring public health, providing health care, preventing and treating various, especially chronic diseases.

Therefore, systematic work is being established with China to develop traditional medicine, implement a number of projects and use Chinese experience to provide quality services to those who come to our country for medicinal purposes.

Today, on 6 June, a conference on trade and economic cooperation between China (Xi’an) and Uzbekistan in the field of traditional Chinese medicine was held in Tashkent.

It was attended by Deputy Head of the Central Committee of the People’s Republic of China Wang Zhigang, Head of the Republican Scientific and Practical Center of Traditional Medicine under the Ministry of Health Zhamshid Mirrahimov, as well as representatives of the Committee on Tourism, the khokimiyat of the Tashkent region and a number of interested organizations.

“We are impressed by the results achieved by Uzbekistan in the development of medical tourism. It is very important to use the potential of traditional medicine, to create opportunities for informed choices regarding caring for their health for both local residents and foreigners. In this sense, we agreed on cooperation in the field of traditional Chinese medicine. We are currently implementing a number of projects for the bilateral exchange of experience,” said Wang Jiwei, deputy head of the Xi’an City Central Committee.

As a result of the event, an agreement on trade and economic cooperation between China (Xi’an) and Uzbekistan in the field of traditional Chinese medicine was signed.

For reference, more than 60 thousand foreign tourists were treated in 86 sanatoriums and medical institutions in our country last year. It is planned to increase this figure several times before the end of this year. The expenses of private clinics for obtaining an international certificate and participation in foreign exhibitions are covered from the budget. For foreigners visiting clinics, value added tax is refunded.