Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Tashkent Wednesday for a state visit to Uzbekistan, where he will also attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) shakes hands with Uzbekistan's Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyaev upon his arrival in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan, June 9, 2010. President Hu arrived here on Wednesday for a state visit to Uzbekistan, where he will also attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. [Huang Jingwen/Xinhua]

This is Hu's second visit to the Central Asian country since he became China's head of state in 2003. In June 2004, Hu visited Uzbekistan and attended an SCO summit in Tashkent.

In a statement released upon his arrival at the airport, Hu said his 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 he will discuss with his Uzbek counterpart Islam Karimov ways to promote bilateral ties and boosting mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation and they will also exchange views on major international and regional issues of common concern.

China and Uzbekistan decided to build a friendly and cooperative partnership in June 2004.

Since then, "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.

Despite the global financial crisis, bilateral trade reached 1.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2009, a year-on-year increase of 18.9 percent. During Hu's stay in Tashkent, the two countries will ink a series of cooperation agreements in economy, trade and other areas.

In Tashkent, Hu will join leaders of other SCO members for a summit on Friday. The participating leaders will discuss strategies for fighting the "three evil forces," safeguarding security and stability and advancing pragmatic cooperation.

Under the theme of uniting for cooperation, maintaining stability and seeking common development, the SCO summit will review the achievements the organization has made in the past year, study the opportunities and challenges it faces under the current regional and international situation and chart a course for future development.

A record number of personages will attend the SCO summit this year, reflecting the growing influence of the organization.

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

After Uzbekistan, President Hu will pay a state visit to Kazakhstan.