Chinese President Hu Jintao and Uzbekistani President Islam Karimov met? Monday to discuss ways to expand bilateral cooperation.

In recent years, the China-Uzbekistan relations have developed steadily with the enlargement of cooperation in the areas of economy, trade, energy, cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Hu and Karimov are in the Russian city for a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.

The annual SCO summit, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, will discuss how to tackle the international financial crisis and how to enhance cooperation in political, economic, security and other areas among its member states.

Founded in 2001, the SCO consists of China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Mongolia, India, Pakistan and Iran are observers of the organization.

(Xinhua News Agency June 15, 2009)