| November 6-November 13, 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Premier Zhu Rongji meets Uzbek President
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|  remier Zhu Rongji said today during a meeting with Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov that
China hopes the two countries will explore more ways of cooperation to further promote friendly relations.
Zhu said that China highly values its relations with Uzbekistan and other Central Asian countries, supports bilateral cooperation
in business and economic areas and encourages relevant Chinese companies to study market trends.
Zhu stressed that with the deepening of China's economic reforms and development in the central and western parts of the
country, there will be increasing chances for cooperation between China and Central Asia.
Karimov, who is expected to conclude his three day state visit to China, his third visit to China since becoming president of
Uzbekistan, said that Uzbekistan agrees with China's foreign policy of peaceful co-existence, and also wishes that both countries
will develop and promote friendly relations, especially in the realm economics and trade.
The president also said his country takes a great interest in China's economic reforms and is ready to learn much from China.
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Uzbekistan's Karimov discusses terrorism-fighting in China
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|  zbek President Islam Karimov wound up his visit to China on Wednesday, during
which he met officials over ways to fight terrorism and extremism.
His last meetings were with President Jiang Zemin and Prime Minister Zhu Rongji. On Tuesday, he encountered Parliament
Chairman Li Peng and a group of local businessmen.
The visit focused on the problem of Islamic fundamentalism, which has become all the more important in Uzbekistan in the wake
of a recent attempt to Karimov's life.
"The forces of religious extremism and national separatism are posing a serious threat to stability in certain countries and regions.
They must be crushed in the most severe of manners," Karimov and Jiang said.
The sides agreed to boost co-operation in pooling efforts in persecuting extremists.
They also signed agreements on extradition, protection of intellectual property, telecommunications, co-operation between the
security services of the two countries, co-operation in tourism and education, and a framework agreement on a Chinese loan to
Uzbekistan.
Karimov's visit to China, the third since 1992, has showed a political rapprochement between the two countries, observers say.
Thus, Uzbekistan can boost regional co-operation with the Shanghai Group of Five nations which comprises Russia, China,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
Karimov was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Yunusov and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov during the trip.
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Li Peng meets Uzbek President
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|  i Peng, chairman of China's National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, met here
this afternoon with visiting Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov.
Li said China is happy to see that Uzbekistan has made remarkable progress in its economic recovery, social development and
the improvement of its people's lives.
China and Uzbekistan have maintained a good relationship since the two forged diplomatic ties eight years ago, Li said, adding
that bilateral cooperation in politics, economy, science, technology and international affairs has been reinforced as a result of the
Uzbek president's efforts to enhance Sino-Uzbek relations.
He also said that there are neither historical problems nor estrangement in Sino-Uzbek relations, and it is China's consistent
policy to develop its ties with Uzbekistan.
Li expressed the conviction that bilateral relations will be furthered by the joint efforts of both sides.
The NPC chairman said that the parliaments of the two countries have also conducted satisfactory exchanges, noting that China
values cooperation between the two parliaments, which will boost the comprehensive growth of bilateral relations.
Karimov told Li that he had extensive and in-depth talks with President Jiang Zemin on Uzbekistan-China relations and regional
issues, and that a number of agreements have been signed on boosting friendly ties. He also said that one of the major tasks of
his present China trip is to enhance bilateral economic and trade relations.
He said that the success of China's reform has shown that the country has found a development path which suits China's national
conditions. China's reform experience is unique, he added.
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Agreement on Chinese credit to Uzbekistan signed in Beijing
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|  hina and Uzbekistan have signed a framework agreement on Chinese loan to Uzbekistan
worth around 11 million dollars, The the agreement was signed during a visit to Beijing by Uzbek President Islam Karimov.
At a meeting with Chinese Foreign Trade Minister Shi Guangshen Karimov declared that Uzbekistan was hoping for
development of cooperation in the field of chemical, light industries and aircraft building. According to Karimov, at present, the
trade turnover between the two countries falls short of the existing potential in bilateral trade and economic cooperation. During
a meeting with Chinese Chairman Jiang Zemin the two sides stressed the importance of deepening bilateral cooperation and
broadening trade and economic contacts, Karimov said.
According to official statistics, the trade turnover between the two countries after diplomatic relations were established between
China and Uzbekistan in 1992 has risen to 930 million dollars now. There are over a hundred enterprises in Uzbekistan
operating with the participation of Chinese capital.
Meanwhile, the World Bank has allocated a loan to Uzbekistan worth approximately 600 million dollars, Itar-Tass was told at a
branch office of the World Bank in Usbekistan. Head of the World Bank Office David Pierce said that the allocated funds were
equivalent to the cost of six projects planned to be fulfilled in Uzbekistan, including the reconstruction of agricultural enterprises,
creation of a credit fund to support enterprises of minor and medium-size business, development of urban passenger transport,
modernization of irrigation systems in a number of regions in Uzbeskistan.
Pierce pointed out that the overall credits allocated by the World Bank to Uzbekistan since 1994 totalled 429 million dollars,
including 220 million dollars already used.
According to the World Bank official, in future the activities of the World Bank in Uzbekistan will be concentrated on four basic
directions, including the agrarian and irrigation sectors, ecology and support to macro-economic transformations in the country.
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Uzbek President meets moftec minister
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|  isiting President Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan met with China's minister of foreign trade and
economic cooperation Shi Guangsheng and Chinese entrepreneurs at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse November 8.
Karimov said he conducted productive talks with President Jiang Zemin Monday, and both expressed the hope to reinforce
bilateral ties and explore new economic and trade cooperative means, for they believe there's still a big gap between the present
trade volume and their cooperative potential.
Uzbekistan, home of abundant natural resources, welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest there, and also hopes that
cooperation in the chemical industry, light industry, and plane manufacturing would be increased, he noted.
Shi agreed big potential remains to be tapped in bilateral cooperation despite the smooth progress in this regard.
He suggested both sides increase trade, encourage mutual investment, forge labor contracts, jointly explore resources, and
engage in technological cooperation, so as to upgrade their cooperative level.
The Chinese government highly emphasizes its cooperation with Uzbekistan, and is fully confident about the cooperative
prospect, he said.
It is learned that trade volume between China and Uzbekistan accumulated to 930 million U.S. dollars by September this year
since they established diplomatic relations in 1992. There are more than 100 registered Chinese enterprises in Uzbekistan,
involving an investment of over six million U.S. dollars.
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Turkmen-Uzbek agreement on visa regime comes into effect
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|  Turkmen-Uzbek intergovernmental agreement on the visa regime came into effect
on Monday.
The agreement was signed by the Turkmen and Uzbek foreign ministers in Tashkent on November 6.
The Turkmen presidential press service said that the document takes into account a high level of multifaceted relations between
the two countries that is why it foresees a series of measures to improve the procedure of granting visas.
The two sides organised a visa-free regime for certain Uzbek and Turkmen specialists working at different enterprises in the
neighbouring republics, the press service said.
Turkmenia introduced a visa regime with CIS countries in June 1999. The first agreement was signed with Russia.
During the consultations on November 6, the Uzbek and Turkmen foreign ministers discussed the development of bilateral
relations and exchanged on international and regional events.
They stressed that Turkmen-Uzbek friendly relations correspond to long-term interests of both people and facilitate the
expansion of mutually beneficial cooperation in the region.
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Quake jostles Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
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| n earthquake of an estimated magnitude of 4 on the Richter scale has jostled
Uzbekistan at 7.45 Moscow time on Monday, a spokesman for the Tashkent seismic station told Itar-Tass.
He said there had been no victims. Tremors of 4-5 on the Richter scale have been registered in Dushanbe, the capital of
Tajikistan.
They caused no victims or destruction, regional Itar-Tass correspondents said.
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Uzbek Tourism forecasts the increase of tourists
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|  urkiston-Press news agency reports that in 1993 40 thousand tourists visited Uzbekistan and in 1998 the number was 270 thousand. According to "Uzbek Tourism" national company, the number of tourists will increase by 3.5-fold by 2010. A joint project on the construction of "President-Hotel" in Samarkand has been designed. Uzbek and German engineers will work on this project, the value of which is USD 52.3 million. German banks will give 28 million dollars for 10 years. The first 2.5 years will be free of interest-rate.TASHKENT, November 9 (Itar-Tass) - A tourist boom is expected in Uzbekistan since the beginning of the third millennium. The national tourist company expects the annual arrival of up to one million foreign guests. That will be almost thrice as much as in 1991, the year when the republic gained independence, company sources told Itar-Tass on Tuesday. The authorities of Uzbekistan are planning to start a large- scale construction of hotels. The German Inpor company will be the contractor. It will join the Uzbek-German venture with a charter capital of 12 million dollars. The foreign partners will supply five millions, and the rest will be given by Uzbekistan. The overall cost of the construction of the new hotels will exceed 50 million dollars. Uzbekistan plans to gain about 20 million dollars in credits of German banks for a period of ten years. In the first two and a half years the money will be given on easy terms. A President Hotel in Samarkand is expected to be built in the first two years of the new millennium.
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Extremism poses threat to stability in world
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|  eligious extremism and national separatism pose a serious threat to stability in several
countries and regions, Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Uzbek President Islam Karimov said.
Jiang and Karimov met on Monday for talks to discuss bilateral relations and international issues.
Karimov has arrived in China on a three-day official visit. According to the Xinhua news agency, the two presidents agreed to
strengthen cooperation to fight extremism and separatism.
During the talks, Jiang expressed satisfaction with the development of cooperation with Uzbekistan and friendly relations
between the two countries based on equal and mutual advantageous relations.
The two countries have huge prospects for further cooperation, the Chinese president said.
The talks were be also attended by Uzbek Vice-Prime Minister Rustam Yunusov and Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov.
Diplomatic sources said Jiang and Karimov reached consensus on international and bilateral issues.
Jiang said Uzbekistan "is an important country in Central Asia", adding that "it is important for Beijing and Tashkent to maintain
friendship in ensuring peace in the region and developing cooperation".
The two presidents signed a joint statement on the strengthening of bilateral friendly cooperation and an agreement on the
extradition of criminals.
The two sides also signed the agreements on the protection of intellectual property and on telecommunications, a framework
agreement on providing a 100-million yan credit to Uzbekistan, an agreement on cooperation between the security and interior
ministries, and an agreement on educational cooperation and tourism.
Local observers that the current visit by the Uzbek president is linked with the improvement of political relations between Beijing
and Tashkent despite the decline in trade and economic relations.
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China and Uzbekistan sign joint statement
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| hina respects the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Uzbekistan, and supports the efforts of its leadership to
consolidate national independence, safeguard the constitutional system, and develop its national economy and implement social
and economic reforms, the joint statement says.
Uzbekistan reiterates that the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government of China, and Taiwan is
an inalienable part of the Chinese territories, it says, adding that the government of Uzbekistan opposes any attempt to create
"two Chinas", or "one China, one Taiwan", and reaffirms that Uzbekistan will not establish any form of official relationship with
Taiwan.
China highly values Uzbekistan's important role in central Asia, and its efforts to establish a nuclear-free zone in the region, it
says, adding that China supports five countries in central Asia in their efforts to be included in such a zone, according to its
consistent position on the issue.
Both sides also spoke highly of the efforts made by the countries seeking a peaceful solution of the conflicts in Afghanistan within
the "six plus two" framework, it says, and they call on relevant parties in Afghanistan to take effective measures to realize
national reconciliation and abide by the Tashkent Declaration.
Both sides share identical or similar views on many regional and international issues, and agreed to strengthen cooperation on
these issues, according to the statement.
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Chinese, Uzbekistan Presidents hold talks
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| hinese President Jiang Zemin held talks with visiting Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov at
the Great Hall of the People here this afternoon.
The two presidents exchanged views on bilateral relations and international issues of common concern, and reached broad a
consensus.
Jiang said China and Uzbekistan have conducted all-round cooperation since the two forged diplomatic ties eight years ago, and
that China values the efforts made by Karimov in promoting Sino-Uzbek relations
Jiang noted that Uzbekistan is an important country in central Asia and it is important for China and Uzbekistan to maintain good
friendship for promoting regional peace, development, and cooperation.
He said there is a solid basis for the two countries to advance bilateral ties, which he believes will witness even more vigorous
progress in the next century.
Karimov expressed happiness over his third China visit, saying each of his visits in the past has helped promote bilateral ties.
He said that Uzbekistan and China enjoy a traditional friendship and the Uzbek people are quite encouraged to see the great
changes that have taken place in China in many areas.
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Uzbek president to arrive in Beijing for official visit
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| resident Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan arrives in Beijing on Monday for a three-day
official visit at the invitation of Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Karimov is to hold talks with Jiang and with prominent members
of the Chinese business community.
Sino-Uzbek trade and economic relations have somewhat narrowed down of late, an official at the Chinese Embassy in
Uzbekistan has told Itar-Tass.
About 100 Sino-Uzbek joint ventures operated in Uzbekistan until recently, whereas now their number has "noticeably
diminished". As far as bilateral trade turnover is concerned, it ran at about 200 million U.S. dollars in 1997 and decreased
almost by 50 percent last year.
In a broad spectrum of bilateral relations between China and Uzbekistan, priority is given to transport communications
connected with the international programme to revive the Great Silk Road, specifically the construction of the railway and
reconstruction of the Andijan-Osh-Kashgar automobile road.
Uzbekistan and China have signed 36 documents which constitute a legal basis of bilateral relations. A package of documents is
expected to be signed during the Uzbek president's visit. This is expected to promote stronger and wider goodneighbourly
relations between Uzbekistan and China.
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Uzbek customs officers seize 400 kg of drugs
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|  ver 400 kilos of grugs were unearthed and seized by Uzbekistan customs officers
last night in cooperation with the National Security Service, Itar-Tass learnt on Sunday from Major-General Utkir Kamilov,
chairman of the Uzbekistan State Customs Committee.
A heavy KAMAZ truck with Tajik number plates was stopped for inspection on the Uzbek-Tajik border at the Saryassky
customs house. Customs officers did not see anything suspicious in the accompanying documents.
Three citizens, living in the Khatlonskaya Region, Tajikistan, accompanied 18 tonnes of lemons. It was clear from the
accompanying documents that lemons were dispatched to one of Russian regional centres.
According to the general, when all formalities were completed, his subordinates decided to make the last ckeck with a police
dog. The dog found under 18 tonnes of lemons 402.5 kilos of drugs: 378 kilograms of opium, 3,5 kilograms of heroin and 20
kilograms of hashish.
This is the third big "catch" (over the past month) of drugs which landed short of Russia where drug dealers were waiting for
them with impatience.
The general noted that over 2,200 kilos of drugs, shipped to the Russian Federation, were detained since the start of the current
year.
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First group of Uzbek militants deported from Tajikistan
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| art of Uzbek Islamic guerrillas from field commander Dzhuma Namangani's unit and
several of the so-called Uzbek refugees who left the eastern Tavildara zone of Tajikistan on Friday were deported from the
country by Saturday evening, a source in power structures told Itar-Tass.
He did not specify how many of the group of about 430-450 had left the country.
As for the remaining militants and a group of 150 people who are getting ready for a transfer from the east to the south of the
country, the source said "they will also leave in accordance with the stage-by-stage deportation plan".
The agreement that the militants and Uzbekistan citizens who were illegally staying in Tajikistan would leave the country was
reached on Thursday at a meeting between Namangani and the chairman of the National Reconciliation Commission, Said
Abdullo Nuri, former commander of the Tajik opposition forces; Emergencies Minister Mirzo Ziyeyev and Tajik Security
Council secretary Amirkul Azimov. The meeting was initiated by Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov.
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