The delegation of Samarkand, Uzbekistan visited Ningbo from April 21 to 22. At midday on April 22, Mr. TANG Feifan, Mayor of Ningbo, met with the delegation, including Mr. Shukurov Akmal Gayratovich, Deputy Governor of Samarkand, Mr. Khaydarov Jamshid Temurovich, Deputy Governor of Samarkand and Head of the Directorate of Free Economic Zone "Urgut", and Mr. Mansurov Azamjon, Consul General of Uzbekistan in Shanghai.

Mayor TANG extended a warm welcome to the delegation for their visit to Ningbo, and made a brief introduction of Ningbo's economic and social development. He said that at the start of this year, President Xi Jinping and Mr. Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan, jointly announced that China and Uzbekistan decided to develop an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership and promote the building of an Uzbekistan-China community with a shared future at a higher starting point, which provided the guidance for both sides to deepen cooperation and new opportunities for exchanges and cooperation at the sub-national level. Ningbo and Uzbekistan had a sound foundation for economic and trade cooperation. He hoped that both sides would fully leverage their own advantages to further explore new room for cooperation, deepen economic and trade cooperation, promote sister-city interactions and enhance people-to-people and cultural exchanges, therefore yielding more fruitful results in friendly exchanges and cooperation, contributing to economic and social development of both sides, and improving the well-being of the people.

Mr. Shukurov Akmal Gayratovich, Deputy Governor of Samarkand, thanked Ningbo for its warm reception and thoughtful arrangements. He said that Samarkand was an ancient city located at the crossroads of the ancient silk road and also a symbol of Uzbekistan with abundant natural resources and huge development potential. He hoped that Samarkand would deepen exchanges and cooperation with Ningbo in the fields of economy, trade, sister-city interactions and culture, so as to lay a solid foundation for enhancing cooperation between enterprises of both sides.

Mr. ZHU Jinmao, Secretary General of Ningbo Municipal Government, Mr. HUA Bitian, Deputy Secretary General of Ningbo Municipal Government, and Ms. BAO Xianping, Director-General of Ningbo Foreign Affairs Office, attended the meeting.

During their stay in Ningbo, the delegation visited multiple Ningbo enterprises, including Aux Group, Ningbo Hongwei Food Company, Zeeker Automobile Company and Ningbo Fotile Kitchenware Company, and went to Qianwan New Zone to attend the enterprise exchange meeting and conduct counterpart and in-depth exchanges with enterprises within the zone.

Mr. XU Leping, Deputy Director-General of Ningbo Foreign Affairs Office, accompanied the delegation on their visit to Ningbo.