Uzbekistan, Tashkent, April 20 / Trend D.Azizov /
Uzbekistan and China have signed more than 25 interstate, intergovernmental and interdepartmental agreements during Uzbek President Islam Karimov's two-day state visit to China, the Uzbek National news agency (UzA) reported.
The agreement provides for implementation of a number of investment projects worth over $5 billion.
During the visit, the parties signed an agreement to build a third line of the Uzbekistan-China gas pipeline, whose capacity will be increased by 25 billion cubic meters per year.
Ex-Im Bank and the State Bank of China opened a new credit line to Uzbek banks amounting to $1.5 billion to implement joint investment projects.
The People's Bank of China and the Central Bank of Uzbekistan signed an agreement on currency swaps in soums and yuan, which greatly expands the possibilities of investment and trade cooperation.
Moreover, agreements were signed on the implementation of major investment projects in the chemical, oil and gas, energy and transport sectors - including construction of the second Dekhkanabad potash fertilizer plant, organization of automotive and agricultural tire production, Angren conveyor belts, construction of new power units at thermal power plants, modernization and development of the coal industry, the supply of modern locomotives and other projects.
China is interested in expanding the supply of cotton fiber, natural gas, uranium ore, nonferrous metals and rare earth elements, and mineral fertilizers from Uzbekistan on the long-term and stable basis. In this regard, the parties agreed on extending the intergovernmental agreement on strategic goods' trade until 2020.
The leading telecom companies Huawei of China and ZTE of Uzbekistan reached an agreement on joint investment projects.
The sides paid particular attention to the development of transport and communication networks, creation of strong corridors linking Uzbekistan and China, and discussed the issue of opening an air bridge to East China, via the Navoi airport, from Europe and the construction of a railway linking Uzbekistan and China via the shortest route possible.
Uzbekistan and China will create a joint committee for high level cooperation that will create a reliable institutional framework for the development of systematic relations.
During the talks, Chinese President Hu Jintao said that Uzbekistan-China relations are entering a qualitatively new phase characterized by the beginning of a large-scale cooperation in the sphere of high technologies. Jintao expressed his appreciation to Karimov for a significant increase in the strategic raw materials supply from Uzbekistan for the growing needs of the Chinese economy. As a result, the total volume of the bilateral trade has increased more than fourfold over the past five years.
Some 347 companies operate with 100% of the Chinese capital investment in Uzbekistan, which makes up 57 percent of Uzbekistan's companies.
According to the Chinese side, the volume of the bilateral trade increased from $680 million to $ 2.47 billion in 2005- 2010. Uzbek exports to China increased from $450 million to $ 1.299 billion.