Energy is priority, leaders agree (3)

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According to official figures, two-way trade volume reached $2.88 billion in 2012, a year-on-year surge of 32.8 percent. That made China Uzbekistan's second-largest trading partner.

Again, trade in the first seven months this year reached $2.54 billion, 60 percent higher than the corresponding period of the last year. The two presidents on Monday set the expected trade volume in 2017 at $5 billion.

Gao Yusheng, former Chinese ambassador to Uzbekistan, said Karimov visited China in 1992, right after his country attained independence. The trip made him the first state head of a former Soviet republic to visit China.

"That laid a good foundation for bilateral ties," Gao said.

Though this is the first time Xi has visited the Central Asian country, Gao said Xi has met Karimov many times before and established "close personal relations".

Gao said an important feature of the ties is the "deep mutual trust between the two nations, and especially the leaders".

That has guaranteed the smooth development of the ties and enabled the two sides to have "in-depth communication and reach in-depth consensus" on issues of common concern, he said. Their efficient cooperation on fighting the three evil forces is a testimony to that, he said.

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