Digital Economy and Innovation: A New Stage of Uzbekistan–China Cooperation

Tashkent, The Gulf Observer: Since gaining independence, and particularly over the past eight years, Uzbekistan has paid special attention to building equal partnerships with all countries of the world, adopting modern trends, and integrating them into various areas of public life. These efforts have contributed to the development of economic sectors and to improving the welfare of the population.

As noted by President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, the development of information and communication technologies drives rapid progress across all sectors and creates significant convenience for citizens. Today, the majority of services are delivered through information technologies, while the efficiency of other sectors is also directly linked to this process. In this regard, expanding digital conditions and transforming Uzbekistan into a modern information technology hub is of vital importance.

Against this backdrop, international cooperation in the field is gaining growing relevance. The Ministry of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan, as the authorized body for digitalization, ICT, digital education, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence, operates on the basis of clear objectives and plans. Alongside the United States, Russia, Germany, Japan, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan, the People’s Republic of China holds a special place.

Strengthening cooperation with China, particularly in ICT, is mutually beneficial for both sides. Currently, ICT cooperation is carried out under around ten agreements.
Active interaction has also been established in the digital economy and innovation sector. On March 29, 2025, within the framework of the AlmatyFair.ai Artificial Intelligence Exhibition in Almaty, a trilateral memorandum was signed between Uzbekistan’s IT Park, Kazakhstan’s “Astana Hub”, and China’s “Growth Vision Pro Ltd.”

The document envisages support for startups, attraction of investment into China’s IT market, and expansion of regional capital inflows.

The cooperation program foresees the development of acceleration programs, organization of business missions, engagement with investors, and enhancement of research and development (R&D) initiatives.

In addition, together with “BYD Auto Industry Company”, cloud services for vehicles supplied to Uzbekistan’s market have been introduced.

Postal services represent another important area of cooperation. The national operator “Uzbekiston Pochtasi” JSC works actively with the Chinese postal operator.

In the first half of 2025 alone, the total weight of incoming and outgoing correspondence between Uzbekistan and China reached 3,085 kg, with 6,014 registered letters. At the same time, bilateral negotiations with the Chinese postal operator are underway on delivery of goods purchased from online stores.

“Uzbekiston Pochtasi” JSC also accepts, processes, and delivers goods ordered from Chinese marketplaces such as “AliExpress”, “Temu”, and “Shein”. Such shipments are received in Uzbekistan through designated operators in China, Latvia, and Vanuatu, with delivery carried out under contracts between “Uzbekiston Pochtasi” JSC and international logistics companies. As a result, within six months of 2025, the operator delivered more than 226 tons of postal items. New areas of cooperation with “China Post” are currently under discussion.

Educational ties also hold significant importance for the future of both countries. Young people trained to international standards represent the foundation of tomorrow.

In this regard, in 2023, the Tashkent University of Information Technologies (TUIT) named after Muhammad al-Khwarizmi signed bilateral memoranda with “Xi’an University”, “Northwestern Polytechnical University”, the “China Institute of Communications”, and “ZTE University” on human resource development and academic exchange programs.

Furthermore, in cooperation with “Huawei” and “ZTE”, the “Digital Education Lab” was established at TUIT and at the “Huawei Academy of Information and Network Technologies”. Under the educational program “Seeds for the Future”, more than 50 students completed internships at “Huawei’s” headquarters in China.

Uzbekistan is also seeking partners in China to implement palm vein recognition technology. Cooperation has been established with “Hubei Yi Chen Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd.” At this stage, discussions are ongoing with “Shengdian Century Technology Co. Ltd.” on the development and commercialization of “MyID Palm” hardware-software systems.

The work undertaken in ICT cooperation between the two countries raises the question of the current status of collaboration.
On January 24–25, 2024, within the framework of the Uzbekistan–China Business Forum in Xi’an, companies of the two countries signed 12 contracts worth over USD 1 billion. These agreements target the development of telecommunication infrastructure and mobile communication networks for 2024–2028.

From November 18 to 23, 2024, during a visit to Shanghai, a delegation from Uzbekistan held meetings with Pan Huang and Chen Zhe, senior officials of the “China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT)” and the “China Telecommunication Technology Labs (CTTL)”. During the talks, issues of cooperation were discussed, a draft memorandum was prepared, and an agreement was reached to sign an official memorandum with “CAICT”.

At present, Uzbekistan and China—one of the world’s most advanced nations—are determined to steadily continue mutually beneficial cooperation in digitalization, ICT, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, postal services, and digital education.

At present, one of the key priorities in cooperation between Uzbekistan and China is the development of collaboration in technology integration, joint research, and applied innovations.
Significant steps in this direction include:

1. The Agreement “On Cooperation in the Field of Post and Telecommunications” signed on November 8, 1999, in Beijing between the Governments of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the People’s Republic of China;
2. The Agreement “On Cooperation in the Field of Communications and Information Technologies” signed on May 25, 2005, in Beijing between the Ministry of Digital Technologies of Uzbekistan and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China;
3. A series of contracts concluded by JSC “Uzbektelecom” with leading Chinese companies, including:
4. the 2006 inter-operator agreement between JSC “Uzbektelecom” and China Telecom on the provision of direct transit services and leased communication channels;
5. the June 25, 2015 agreement between JSC “Uzbektelecom” and China Unicom on international telecommunications services;
6. agreements signed in June and July 2023 between JSC “Uzbektelecom” and Tencent;
7. the Joint Venture Declaration between LLC “UZINFOCOM” and H3C Technologies Co. LTD.

The broad scope of cooperation reflects China’s growing interest in Uzbekistan. From 2016 to 2025, JSC “Uzbektelecom” implemented large-scale projects to expand telecommunication infrastructure, attracting direct foreign investment and loans from Chinese financial institutions totaling approximately USD 700 million.

Within these projects:

1. over 27,000 base stations using GSM/UMTS/LTE/HR standards were commissioned;
2. modern broadband equipment for more than 3 million subscriber ports was installed;
3. a nationwide transport network with a capacity of 40 Tbps was established;
4. data processing and storage centers with a total capacity of 11.2 PB were put into operation.

Between 2017 and 2023, mobile operators Beeline (Unitel), Mobiuz (UMS), and Ucell (Coscom), in cooperation with Chinese companies, carried out several projects with a total value exceeding USD 500 million.

Most public services have now been digitized, significantly simplifying access for citizens. Notably, a project with Huawei was completed to establish a data center for the “E-Government” system at a cost of USD 58.4 million.

In outsourcing and IT exports, notable progress has also been achieved. By the end of 2024, 13 companies with Chinese capital had registered as IT Park residents, including SOLUXE CONSULTING, ZTE China, and ONE Cloud China Tech, all focused on export activities. In 2024, these companies exported services worth USD 455,400, and by the second quarter of 2025 this figure had risen to USD 632,100.

As of the second quarter of 2025, the number of companies exporting services to China reached 24, including MONTFORT CA, FINANCIAL CHAIN CORPORATION, SOLUXE CONSULTING, and others. During this period, service exports to China amounted to USD 7.4 million, compared with USD 2.7 million in 2024.

To further strengthen cooperation, an IT Park delegation took part in the Huawei Cloud Go Global Summit 2025, held on March 23–26 in Chongqing. During the event, IT Park General Manager J. Pak delivered a presentation on “The Development of Uzbekistan’s IT Industry and Conditions Created for IT Companies in the Republic.”

In addition, the delegation held talks with several Chinese IT companies, including Renrui Human Resources Technology Holdings Limited. Discussions focused on establishing a call center in Samarkand under the Zero Risk program. The company registered in Uzbekistan as RENRUI CA SERVICES and, on June 17, 2025, received IT Park residency status.