On June 9, 2010, Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Tashkent for a state visit to Uzbekistan, where he will also attend the 10th Meeting of the Council of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Heads of States.

At about 12:40 local time, Hu’s special plane arrived at the airport in Tashkent, where he was warmly greeted by Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev.

In a statement released upon his arrival at the airport, Hu pointed out that China-Uzbekistan friendship enjoys a long history and bilateral relations have been developing smoothly and steadily since the establishment of diplomatic ties 18 years ago. China and Uzbekistan decided to build a friendly and cooperative partnership in June 2004. Since then, bilateral relations have entered a new stage of development. "China and Uzbekistan have enhanced mutual political trust, expanded cooperation in economy, trade, energy, transport and culture, supported each other on major issues of their respective concern, and coordinated closely in multilateral mechanisms such as the United Nations and the SCO," Hu said, adding that all this has brought tangible benefits to both peoples.

Hu said his current visit is aimed at enhancing the long-standing friendship between the peoples of the two countries and advancing the friendly and cooperative partnership to a new level. The Chinese president said during his visit he will hold talks and meet with his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov and other Uzbek leaders, exchanging in-depth views on ways to promote bilateral ties and boost mutually beneficial cooperation as well as on major international and regional issues of common concern. Hu expressed belief that with the joint efforts of both sides, this visit will surely be a great success.

Ling Jihua, Wang Huning and other accompanying officials arrived by the same plane.