On September 28, Hu Heping, Minister of Culture and Tourism, met with Saida Mirziyoyeva, Assistant of the President of Uzbekistan, who is visiting China, at the Palace Museum in Beijing.

Welcoming Saida Mirziyoyeva's first-ever delegation to China, Hu Heping said Uzbekistan is a friendly and close neighbor of China, and in recent years, under the strategic leadership of the two heads of state, China-Uzbekistan relations have entered a golden period of rapid development. Both China and Uzbekistan are famous for their long history, profound cultural heritage and rich tourism resources, and exchanges and cooperation in the fields of culture, tourism and cultural heritage have always been an important part of the relations between the two countries. For a long time, the two sides have widely cooperated in building intergovernmental cooperation mechanisms, co-organizing and participating in large-scale events with each other, cultural heritage preservation and joint archaeology, cultivating talents in the fields of culture and tourism, and promoting bidirectional tourist exchanges, etc. In 2023, under the joint concern and support of the leaders of the two countries, and especially under the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping and the consensus of the China-Central Asia Summit, the two sides will continue to cooperate with each other in the fields of culture and tourism. China is ready to work with Uzbekistan to continue to deeply implement the important consensus of the two leaders, strengthen civilization exchanges and mutual understanding, and promote the building of a closer community of destiny between China and Uzbekistan. 

Saida Mirziyoyeva said that Uzbekistan and China have established close and friendly contacts since ancient times through the ancient Silk Road, and today, under the strategic leadership of the heads of state of the two countries, cooperation between the two countries in the fields of culture, tourism, archaeology, conservation and restoration of cultural relics has been further strengthened. We are grateful to the Chinese side for inviting Uzbekistan to participate in the General Assembly of the Asian Cultural Heritage Conservation Union in 2023 and to become an observer state, and we hope to become a full member of the Union in the near future. We thank China for its great support and assistance to the "Night of Uzbekistan" in Hangzhou and the "Five Continents and Four Seas - 'Belt and Road' Cultural Relics and Archaeology Cooperation Exhibition" in Beijing. Uzbekistan is ready to continue to promote cooperation with China in the areas of culture, tourism, archaeology, museums and other areas, and to support China's initiatives at the international level.