China fully supports Uzbekistan as host of SCO summit: FM

China will give full support to Uzbekistan in hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Tashkent, the country's capital city later this year.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks during talks with his Uzbek counterpart Abdulaziz Kamilov in Beijing on Friday.

Kamilov was making a special trip to exchange ideas with the Chinese side on preparations for the SCO summit. Uzbekistan is the rotating chair of the 15-year-old regional organization.

Wang said that China will assist Uzbekistan in holding a successful summit to display the SCO's cooperation fruits, sum up experience and map out the future, to elevate the organization to play a greater role in international and regional affairs.

China is an important founding member of the SCO, Kamilov said, stressing that Uzbekistan highly values China's role in promoting the organization's development, and is ready to work with China and other SCO members to fully prepare for the summit and inject new impetus to SCO's future development.

On bilateral ties, Kamilov said that Uzbekistan gives priority to developing relations with China, adding that Uzbekistan is willing to enhance high-level contact, deepen political mutual trust, expand pragmatic cooperation with China and actively participate in China's Belt and Road initiative.

Wang said that China was willing to take the opportunity of the SCO summit to enhance high-level exchanges, advance interconnection, capacity cooperation and cultural exchanges with Uzbekistan within the framework of Silk Road Economic Belt construction in order to promote China-Uzbekistan strategic partnership to a higher level.

The two sides also agreed to strengthen cooperation in addressing international and regional affairs. Endi