Chinese premier meets Uzbek president

Premier Wen Jiabao met Wednesday with Uzbek President Islam Karimov in Beijing.

Karimov arrived in Beijing on Tuesday evening to attend the 12th Meeting of the Council of Heads of Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Wednesday and Thursday.

The establishment of the strategic partnership between China and Uzbekistan has provided broad prospect for the two countries' deepening cooperation in various fields, said Wen while meeting with Karimov.

Wen said China will strengthen communication and coordination with the Uzbek side to achieve a steady growth in bilateral trade.

China is willing to help Uzbekistan raise its industrial level and will encourage Chinese enterprises to cooperate with Uzbek counterparts in building industrial parks, Wen continued, adding that the legitimate interests of enterprises from both sides should be well protected.

Karimov said China has played a significant role in promoting peaceful development in Central Asia and is a trusted partner of Uzbekistan.

Fruitful achievements have been made in bilateral cooperation and cooperation under the SCO framework, said Karimov. He also thanked China for the help and support to his country.

He said Uzbekistan would like to learn from China's experience, expand bilateral cooperation in fields such as economy and trade, energy, railway, finance and technology, and cement coordination with China within the SCO.

President Hu Jintao also held talks with his Uzbek counterpart on Wednesday, after which the two presidents agreed to upgrade the relationship between the two countries to a strategic partnership.