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，應烏茲別克斯坦共和國總統米爾濟約耶夫邀請，中華人民共和國主席習近平對烏茲別克斯坦共和國進行國事訪問，并出席在撒馬爾罕舉行的上海合作組織成員國元首理事會第二十二次會議。兩國元首簽署并發表《中華人民共和國和烏茲別克斯坦共和國聯合聲明》，其中強調應擴大兩國地方合作，豐富雙邊關系內涵，打造合作新增長點。

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，塔什干州政府高級代表團訪問重慶，共同舉辦經貿合作論壇。

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，塔什干州安格連市政府與重慶市九龍坡區政府簽署經貿人文合作協議。

9月13日，中國重慶市與烏茲別克斯坦塔什干州線上簽署了建立友好市州關系協議書，并納入國家元首出訪烏茲別克斯坦雙邊合作成果框架。

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.

根據友好市州關系協議，重慶市與塔什干州將進一步加強在經貿、旅游、科技、文化、教育、體育、衛生等領域交流合作，努力打造中烏兩國地方合作的新亮點。

烏茲別克斯坦位于中亞腹地，面積44.89萬平方公里，人口3540萬，是中亞重要國家，上海合作組織成員國，亞投行創始成員國。塔什干州位于烏茲別克斯坦東部，其地理條件優越，人口密集，交通、通訊網絡發達，是烏茲別克斯坦的重要工業中心和農業強區，集中了烏茲別克斯坦所有的黑色金屬冶煉企業和大部分有色金屬冶煉、機械制造、化工、電力、建材、輕工、食品等工業企業。

重慶位于中國內陸西南部，是長江上游地區的經濟、金融、科創、航運和商貿的物流中心，西部大開發重要的戰略支點、“一帶一路”和長江經濟帶重要聯結點以及內陸開放高地。同時，重慶也是西南地區最大的工商業城市，國家重要的現代制造業基地。2021年，全市地區生產總值達27894.02億元，比上年增長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，重慶跨境公路班車（中亞班車）首發至烏茲別克斯坦。

重慶市與塔什干州兩地友誼源遠流長，早在1998年，兩市州就簽署了友好合作關系協議；2018年，塔什干州政府高級代表團訪問重慶，與重慶部門、區縣、企業進行廣泛對接，并在經貿人文等多領域達成合作共識，兩地全面交往愈加緊密。此次協議簽署，標志著重慶正式牽手塔什干州，共同架起連接“一帶一路”及歐亞地區合作之橋。

今年正值中烏建交30周年，在兩國元首的共同引領下，重慶不斷拓展與烏茲別克斯坦的友好務實合作，除地方友好，還以渝新歐中亞班列和中亞班車為紐帶，大力發展經貿往來。自2018年第一趟中亞班列開行以來，渝新歐中亞班列輻射包括烏茲別克斯坦在內的多個中亞國家，共運輸貨物近1.5萬標箱，貨值近35億元。去回程貨物涵蓋通訊設備、整車、汽車零配件、機械配件、日用百貨、糧食、金屬礦產等多種類。2020年7月，首趟重慶跨境公路班車（中亞班車）從重慶出發，駛往烏茲別克斯坦，實現了中亞跨境公路班車陸運通道的貫通。今年1——7月，重慶對烏茲別克斯坦進出口總額同比增長1.4倍，兩地合作前景廣闊。