Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyayev on Tuesday met with a visiting delegation of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) led by its vice chairman Bai Lichen.

At the meeting, Mirziyayev noted that high-level exchanges of visits between the two countries have been frequent since the beginning of this year and Uzbek President Islam Karimov met with President Hu Jintao twice.

With the signing of the treaty on friendly and cooperative partnership, Uzbekistan has been actively implementing the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries in efforts to further strengthen the friendly relations between them, Mirziyayev said.

The frequent contact between the upper house of Uzbekistan's Supreme Assembly and the CPPCC is conducive to the development of bilateral relations as a whole, he said.

Bai, vice chairman of the CPPCC National Committee and head of the delegation, said Uzbekistan is an important partner of China in Central Asia and within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

The CPPCC is ready for closer exchanges and cooperation with the upper house of the Supreme Assembly in the interest of promoting the China-Uzbek friendship, said Bai.

The CPPCC delegation is currently on a three-nation tour of Central and Eastern Europe covering Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Bulgaria.

Founded in June 2001, the SCO now groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2005)