Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tashkent to discuss bilateral cooperation and the situation in Afghanistan.

According to the Uzbek presidency, the talks placed particular emphasis on coordinating approaches to Afghanistan’s socio-economic and security challenges.

Wang Yi visited Uzbekistan to participate in a strategic dialogue of foreign ministers. After meetings with Uzbekistan’s president and foreign minister, he travelled on to Tajikistan.

Like most countries, with the exception of Russia, China and Uzbekistan do not recognise the Taliban authorities, though both maintain active diplomatic and economic engagement with Kabul. However, China and the Central Asian states remain wary of the potential spread of extremism and cross-border terrorist threats from Afghanistan.

In June, leaders of China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan issued a joint statement in Astana expressing support for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Afghanistan free from terrorism and drug trafficking. The signatories also agreed to cooperate in combating terrorism, separatism and extremism across the region.