Senior Chinese military official meets Uzbek defense chief

Chen Bingde, chief of the General Staff of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), held talks on Thursday with Uzbek Defense Minister Kabul Berdiev on bilateral ties and relations between the two armed forces.

Berdiev said cooperation between China and Uzbekistan has been fruitful in political, economic, cultural and military fields.

Uzbekistan firmly sticks to the one-China policy and supports China's stance on issues related to Taiwan, Xinjiang and Tibet, Berdiev said.

Uzbekistan is ready to strengthen collaboration with China within the framework of international organizations on human rights and religious issues, he said.

Uzbekistan highly appreciates the achievements China has made in economic and defense modernization, and is willing to further boost cooperation with China and jointly push the bilateral friendly cooperation forward, he said.

Chen said Uzbekistan is a close and friendly neighbor of China with frequent high-level exchanges in recent years. The two countries have enhanced political mutual trust and deepened pragmatic cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, energy, and culture.

Military ties, an important part of the friendly bilateral cooperative relations, have witnessed smooth and healthy development and scored remarkable achievements in various fields, he said.

He added the two armed forces have carried out friendly and pragmatic cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. China would like to make joint efforts with Uzbekistan to enhance strategic mutual trust, deepen pragmatic cooperation and push the bilateral military ties to a new high.