On the morning of September 21, local time, Wu Bangguo, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, who is in Uzbekistan for an official goodwill visit, held talks with Chairman Ilgizar Sabirov of the Senate of the Uzbek Supreme Assembly at the building of the upper house of Uzbek Parliament.

Sabirov extended warm welcome to Chairman Wu Bangguo, saying that this visit will greatly enhance the level of bilateral parliamentary relations and play a significant promoting role in bilateral all-round cooperation on politics, economy, economy, trade and humanities.

Wu first congratulated Uzbekistan on the 20th anniversary of its independence. He said, as a friendly neighbor, China is delighted with the progress Uzbekistan has made in economic and social undertakings and believes under the leadership of President Islam Karimov the Uzbek people will be able to create new and greater achievements in nation building and national rejuvenation.

Wu said since the establishment of diplomatic relations nearly 20 years ago, especially since the launch of friendly cooperative partnership in 2005, bilateral relations have witnessed rapid development with frequent high-level visits, deepening political mutual trust and gratifying results of pragmatic cooperation. The cooperation in trade, energy, chemicals, infrastructure and other areas has reached an unprecedented high and both sides have worked closely in the fight against the "three evil forces" and other security areas and maintained good coordination and cooperation in the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and other multilateral frameworks. During President Karimov's visit to China in April, the two heads of state reached broad consensus on developing bilateral friendly cooperative partnership of long-term stability, pointing out the direction for the development of state-to-state relationship. Wu said the purpose of his visit is to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both countries and push bilateral relations to a new level.

Wu said the friendly exchanges between China's NPC and the Uzbek Supreme Assembly are an important part of bilateral friendly cooperative partnership. He said his current tour is not only a return visit to Chairman Ilgizar Sabirov's visit to China in July, but also the first visit to Uzbekistan by a chairman of the NPC Standing Committee. Both sides will sign a memorandum on China-Uzbekistan parliamentary cooperation. All this is an important manifestation of close contact and cooperation between both sides. China's NPC attaches importance to developing relations with the Uzbek Supreme Assembly and is ready to maintain high-level visits and friendly exchanges at all levels and in various areas with the parliament of Uzbekistan. He urged both sides to support each other on major issues concerning core interests and push for pragmatic cooperation at the parliamentary level to contribute to state-to-state relations. To this end, Wu raised the following proposals. First, Wu urged the legislatures of the two countries to speed up the approval of bilateral cooperation agreements and projects, promote cooperation at local levels and between businesses and push forward cooperation on large strategic projects related to energy, minerals and high technology. Second, he suggested both sides conduct more exchanges of experience on how to promote economic development and secure social harmony, and take more effective legislative measures to improve trade and investment environment and protect the legal rights of enterprises and citizens. Third, he also called on the two sides to enhance coordination within multilateral parliamentary organizations and play their constructive role in helping boost comprehensive cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Sabirov fully agreed with Wu's views. He said that both sides share highly identical views on deepening pragmatic cooperation as well as on strengthening bilateral coordination in international and regional affairs. He said Uzbekistan regarded China as a sincere friend and an important cooperative partner, and would further cooperation with China in such areas as politics, economy and trade based on mutual respect, equality and a high degree of trust. Uzbekistan is ready to work with China to combat the "three evil forces" to safeguard regional security and jointly advance the SCO's development. The Uzbek Senate would like to make unremitting efforts in this regard, he added.

After the talks, Wu and Sabirov signed a memorandum on cooperation between the NPC and the Uzbek Senate, and witnessed the signing of five agreements on trade and economy including an economic and technological cooperation agreement between the two governments. Chairman Wu also received an interview by journalists.

In the evening, Sabirov hosted a welcome banquet for Chairman Wu.

Prior to the talks, Wu presented a flower basket at the Monument of Independence and Humanism in the center of Tashkent.

On the noon of the same day, Chairman Wu met at the hotel where he stayed with the staff of the Chinese Embassy in Uzbekistan and representatives from Chinese-funded institutions, overseas Chinese and Chinese students in Uzbekistan.

Vice Chairman and Secretary General Li Jianguo of China's NPC Standing Committee and other officials attended the above activities.