Chongqing Municipality,China Forging Sister-City Ties with Tashkent Region,Uzbekistan

By Liu Dingrui/The World and Chongqing Photo/Tang Anbing

From September 14thto 15th,President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China paid a state visit to the Republic of Uzbekistan upon the invitation of President Mirziyoyev of the Republic of Uzbekistan and attended the 22ndMeeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO member States in Samarkand.The heads of state of the two countries signed and issued theJoint Statement of the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Uzbekistan,stressing the need to expand cooperation between the two countries at the sub-national level,add more substance to the bilateral relations between the two countries,and create new growth drivers for cooperation.

On September 13th,Chongqing Municipality,China signed an agreement on the establishment of sister-city relations with Tashkent Region,Uzbekistan,which was included in the framework of bilateral cooperation results of the visit by the President to Uzbekistan.

According to the Agreement,Chongqing and Tashkent will further strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the fields of economy,trade,tourism,science and technology,culture,education,sports,and health,and work to create new highlights for sub-national cooperation between China and Uzbekistan.

Located in the heart of Central Asia,Uzbekistan has an area of 448,900 square kilometers and a population of 35.4 million.It is an important country in Central Asia,a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization,and a founding member of the AsianInfrastructure Investment Bank.Tashkent is located in the east of Uzbekistan,with favorable geographical conditions,a dense population,and a well-developed transportation and communication network.It is an important industrial center with great agricultural strength in Uzbekistan,bringing together all ferrous metal smelting companies,the majority of nonferrous metal smelting companies,and industrial companies in machinery manufacturing,chemical industry,electric power,building materials,light industry,and food in the country.

9月14日至15日，应乌兹别克斯坦共和国总统米尔济约耶夫邀请，中华人民共和国主席习近平对乌兹别克斯坦共和国进行国事访问，并出席在撒马尔罕举行的上海合作组织成员国元首理事会第二十二次会议。两国元首签署并发表《中华人民共和国和乌兹别克斯坦共和国联合声明》，其中强调应扩大两国地方合作，丰富双边关系内涵，打造合作新增长点。

In April 2018,a high-level delegation from Tashkent Region Government visited Chongqing,co-organizing the economic and trade cooperation forum.2018年4月，塔什干州政府高级代表团访问重庆，共同举办经贸合作论坛。

In April 2018,Angren Municipal Government of Tashkent signed an agreement on establishing friendly cooperative relationship with Jiulongpo District Government of Chongqing.2018年4月，塔什干州安格连市政府与重庆市九龙坡区政府签署经贸人文合作协议。

9月13日，中国重庆市与乌兹别克斯坦塔什干州线上签署了建立友好市州关系协议书，并纳入国家元首出访乌兹别克斯坦双边合作成果框架。

Located at Southwestern China,Chongqing is a logistics hub for economy,finance,science and technology innovation,shipping and trade in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.It is also an anchor in the Large-scale Western Development,a juncture of the Silk Road Economic Belt,the 21stCentury Maritime Silk Road and the Yangtze Economic Belt,as well as a leader of opening-up in inland China.Meanwhile,as the largest industrial and commercial city in Southwest China,Chongqing is an important modern manufacturing base in the country.In 2021,Chongqing’s GDP totaled RMB 2.789402 trillion,up by 8.3%compared to the previous year.

Chongqing and Tashkent enjoy a time-honored friendship.As early as 1998,the two sides signed an agreement on friendly and cooperative relations;in 2018,a high-level delegation from the government of Tashkent Oblast visited Chongqing and had extensive exchanges with several departments,counties and enterprises in Chongqing.Since then,the two sides have reached cooperation consensus in a wide range of areas covering economy,trade,people-to-people and cultural exchanges.And the overall interaction between Chongqing and Tashkent is getting closer.The signing of this agreement marks the official cooperation between Chongqing and Tashkent to build a cooperation bridge connecting the Silk Road Economic Belt,the 21stCentury Maritime Silk Road and the Eurasian region.

This year marks the 30thanniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Uzbekistan.Under the joint guidance of the two heads of state,Chongqing has continued to develop its practical cooperation with Uzbekistan.In addition to forming sister relationship,Chongqing has also made great efforts to promote economic and trade exchanges,with the YUXINOU Central Asia Railway Express and Central Asia Expressway Freight as the bond.Since the first Central Asia Railway Express launched in 2018,the YUXINOU Central Asia Railway Express has delivered benefits to multiple Central Asian countries including Uzbekistan,and transported nearly 15,000 TEUs of goodswith the value of goods reaching nearly RMB 3.5 billion.The goods carried on the departure and return trips cover a wide range of types,such as communication equipment,vehicles,automobile spare parts,machinery parts,daily necessity,grain,and metal mineral.In July 2020,the first cross-border expressway freight (Central Asia Expressway Freight) departed from Chongqing to Uzbekistan,achieving the connectivity of the land transportation line of Central Asia.In the first seven months of this year,Chongqing’s imports and exports with Uzbekistan increased by 1.4 times,with broad prospects for cooperation between two regions.

根据友好市州关系协议，重庆市与塔什干州将进一步加强在经贸、旅游、科技、文化、教育、体育、卫生等领域交流合作，努力打造中乌两国地方合作的新亮点。

乌兹别克斯坦位于中亚腹地，面积44.89万平方公里，人口3540万，是中亚重要国家，上海合作组织成员国，亚投行创始成员国。塔什干州位于乌兹别克斯坦东部，其地理条件优越，人口密集，交通、通讯网络发达，是乌兹别克斯坦的重要工业中心和农业强区，集中了乌兹别克斯坦所有的黑色金属冶炼企业和大部分有色金属冶炼、机械制造、化工、电力、建材、轻工、食品等工业企业。

重庆位于中国内陆西南部，是长江上游地区的经济、金融、科创、航运和商贸的物流中心，西部大开发重要的战略支点、“一带一路”和长江经济带重要联结点以及内陆开放高地。同时，重庆也是西南地区最大的工商业城市，国家重要的现代制造业基地。2021年，全市地区生产总值达27894.02亿元，比上年增长8.3%。

Source/ WeChat Account of Chongqing Foreign Affairs

Editor/Liu Dingrui

In July 2020,Chongqing launched its first cross-border expressway freight (Central Asia Expressway Freight) to Uzbekistan.2020年7月，重庆跨境公路班车（中亚班车）首发至乌兹别克斯坦。

重庆市与塔什干州两地友谊源远流长，早在1998年，两市州就签署了友好合作关系协议；2018年，塔什干州政府高级代表团访问重庆，与重庆部门、区县、企业进行广泛对接，并在经贸人文等多领域达成合作共识，两地全面交往愈加紧密。此次协议签署，标志着重庆正式牵手塔什干州，共同架起连接“一带一路”及欧亚地区合作之桥。

今年正值中乌建交30周年，在两国元首的共同引领下，重庆不断拓展与乌兹别克斯坦的友好务实合作，除地方友好，还以渝新欧中亚班列和中亚班车为纽带，大力发展经贸往来。自2018年第一趟中亚班列开行以来，渝新欧中亚班列辐射包括乌兹别克斯坦在内的多个中亚国家，共运输货物近1.5万标箱，货值近35亿元。去回程货物涵盖通讯设备、整车、汽车零配件、机械配件、日用百货、粮食、金属矿产等多种类。2020年7月，首趟重庆跨境公路班车（中亚班车）从重庆出发，驶往乌兹别克斯坦，实现了中亚跨境公路班车陆运通道的贯通。今年1——7月，重庆对乌兹别克斯坦进出口总额同比增长1.4倍，两地合作前景广阔。