TASHKENT — Chinese and Uzbek businesses have vowed to further strengthen cooperation on e-commerce during an online business forum held in Tashkent on Oct 13.

The forum, themed "Shanghai-Tashkent: Prospects for Silk Road of E-commerce," attracted over 50 participants from Chinese and Uzbek governments, business associations and company representatives to exchange experience in e-commerce development and identify the best ways of bilateral cooperation through online trading platforms.

"In recent years, Uzbekistan's cherries and other agricultural products have been favored by Chinese consumers on Chinese e-commerce platforms," Wang Kaixuan, director of the Department of Eurasian Affairs at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, noted at the forum.

China-Uzbekistan e-commerce has broad prospects and is expected to become a new growth point for practical bilateral cooperation in the future, Wang added.

"Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, internet platforms are accelerating the digitalization of the service sector, creating a large number of jobs, helping to increase the openness of the economy, and promoting the export of goods and services to foreign markets," Adkham Ikramov, chairman of Uzbekistan's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the forum.

The online forum was co-organized by the China International Electronic Commerce Center, the Consulate General of Uzbekistan in Shanghai, the Xinjiang Asia-European International Trade Center and Uzbek company BMB Trade Group.