Uzbek President Islam Karimov on Friday praised his energy-rich country's growing ties with China as the world's biggest energy consumer shows an increasing appetite for Central Asian resources.
"For us, China is a great neighbour that has the most ancient history and unique culture, the country that is rightfully the second largest economy in the world," Karimov said in televised remarks on Friday after meeting China's top legislator Wu Banguo the day before.
"I am convinced that the time when China will take the first place is not too far," Karimov said.
Karimov hosted Wu, the head of the Chinese National People's Congress, for talks in the Uzbek capital Tashkent on Thursday.
The two oversaw the signing of a number of trade and economic cooperation agreements. The Uzbek government did not release further details.
In April, Karimov travelled to Beijing where he oversaw the signing of a slew of agreements including $5 billion worth of investment projects on gas trade and attracting Chinese technology to modernise aging Uzbek infrastructure and build new machinery and chemical plants.
Following Karimov's trip to China, a top Uzbek official indicated that Tashkent was keen to open up its economy and vast mineral resources to China rather than Europe after feeling let down by Western pressure over its human rights record.
First Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Azimov told an international conference in April Tashkent was tired of being lectured to by the European Union although it was prepared to work with individual states who showed respect.
He said Uzbekistan needed a reliable market for its raw materials "where no one will make strained political claims".
During his trip to Uzbekistan, Wu also visited the Tashkent offices of the China National Petroleum Corporation, which is expanding the existing Central Asia-China gas pipeline to increase its capacity.
The pipeline, which ships gas from Turkmenistan via Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan to China has already pushed through 14.7 billion cubic metres of mainly Turkmen gas since it was put into operation in 2009, according to Chinese officials.
The gas-rich Uzbekistan is expected to ship natural gas to China starting next year and the two countries are considering signing an agreement by the end of the year.
