On December 13, 2009, Chinese President Hu Jintao met with Uzbek President Islam Karimov in Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan, exchanging in-depth views on bilateral relations and other issues of common concern and reaching important consensus. Both heads of state agreed to push forward bilateral ties.

In the meeting with his Uzbek counterpart, Hu said the relationship between China and Uzbekistan has been developing consistently and stably in an all-round manner. High-level contacts are frequent, political trust has been intensified and cooperative cooperation in all fields has yielded remarkable results. Both nations have been mutually supportive on issues concerning each other's core interests, and both have sustained communication and collaboration in international and regional affairs, Hu said.

Hu said China has always attached great importance to developing its ties with Uzbekistan, which is seen as an important partner in central Asia, and it is China's firm policy to safeguard and develop its relations with Uzbekistan. China is willing to work with Uzbekistan to further high-level exchanges, deepen practical cooperation in all areas, and ensure the long-term sound and stable development of the friendly cooperative partnership, Hu said.

Hu put forward important proposals on deepening bilateral pragmatic cooperation. Hu emphasized that the Chinese side is ready to enhance communication and coordination with Uzbekistan to ensure a safe and smooth operation of the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline and implement the agreements concerning the expansion of bilateral cooperation in gas and petrol fields. Hu also proposed that the two countries deepen cooperation in developing mineral resources and carry out the relevant agreements reached by the two sides. The long-term, stable, practical and mutually beneficial trade relations shall be consolidated, he said. The Chinese leader said the role of the intergovernmental economic and trade cooperation commission shall be brought into full play and agreements reached at the eighth meeting of the China-Uzbekistan joint economic and trade commission shall also be implemented. Hu pointed out that cooperation should be promoted particularly in the fields of economy and trade, transportation, telecommunications, light industry and agriculture.

In terms of security, Hu said the Central Asian region is confronted with grave security challenges. It is a common responsibility of all countries in the region, including China and Uzbekistan, to combat the "three forces" and to safeguard security and stability. China is willing to consolidate contacts and cooperation with Uzbek law enforcement authorities and security departments to better safeguard the security interests of both countries as well as security and stability of the region, he said.

With the joint efforts of its member states, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has been striving to offset the negative impacts brought by changes in international and regional situation. The organization has achieved outstanding outcomes in pragmatic cooperation in all areas and played an important role in promoting the stability of the Central Asian region and safeguarding the common interests of the member states, Hu said. As the current holder of the SCO's rotating presidency, Uzbekistan has made planning for the body's development and raised a series of significant proposals, and such efforts were highly valued and readily bolstered by the Chinese side. China is ready to stay in close contact with Uzbekistan and actively support and assist Uzbekistan in its hosting of the SCO summit next year, Hu said.

Karimov, on his part, spoke highly of Uzbekistan-China relations, holding that the development of bilateral relations is not only conducive to the two countries, but is also of great significance to maintaining peace and stability in the Central Asian region. He said China is a most reliable and trust-worthy friend of Uzbekistan. Since the heads of state of the two countries met in Yekaterinburg in Russia earlier this year, bilateral practical cooperation has made new substantive progress and entered a new era of development, and bilateral trade has grown rapidly, with a broad prospect of cooperation in the areas of natural gas, mining and cotton. Karimov said, in response to the worsening of the international financial crisis, the Chinese government has adopted a series of effective measures to resolve the difficulties faced by China's economy and played an important role in promoting the growth of the world economy, which Uzbekistan highly appreciates. He said, against the backdrop of profound and complicated changes in today's world, Uzbekistan is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in various fields. He emphasized that Uzbekistan adheres to the one-China policy and firmly supports China's opposition to "Taiwan independence" and to "Tibet independence" as well as its strike against the "three evil forces". Karimov appreciated the major and active role that China has played in handling major international issues. He thanked China for its support to Uzbekistan in holding the rotating presidency of the SCO. He said Uzbekistan is ready to work with China to host a successful SCO summit in its capital of Teshkent next year.

Ling Jihua, Wang Huning and Dai Bingguo attended the meeting.