Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Tashkent on Friday afternoon at the start of a two-day official visit to Uzbekistan at the invitation of Uzbek Prime Minister Shavkat Mirziyaev.

Wen will also attend the sixth Meeting of Prime Ministers of the Member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the Uzbek capital later in the day.

In a written statement issued at the airport upon arrival, Wen highlighted the growth of China-Uzbekistan relations in the past 15 years, saying bilateral cooperation has brought concrete benefits to the two peoples.

Wen said he, at the prime ministers' meeting in Tashkent, would work for further promoting the implementation of the agreement reached at the SCO's Bishkek summit in August.

"We will have an in-depth discussion and exchange of views so as to push forward the cooperation under the SCO framework to a higher level," Wen said in the statement.

Wen will meet with Uzbek President Islam Karimov and hold talks with Mirziyaev, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry official. The two sides will exchange views on bilateral relations and regional and international issues of common concern.

Wen will also deliver an important speech at the SCO Prime Ministers Meeting, the official added.

The SCO, a regional organization founded in June 2001, comprises China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, with Pakistan, Mongolia, Iran and India holding observer status.

(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2007)