On the morning of January 25, 2024, the Uzbekistan-China Investment Forum hosted by the Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of Uzbekistan opened in Shenzhen. The forum, which brought together political and business representatives from China and Uzbekistan, aims to deepen the important consensus reached by the heads of China and Uzbekistan, effectively strengthen economic and trade exchanges between 

localities, and promote bilateral investment to expand opening-up.

In order to explore the feasibility of industrial cooperation between China and Uzbekistan on "design + technology", on the afternoon of the same day, Sherzod Shermatov, the Minister of Digital Technology of Uzbekistan, accompanied by Xue Bin, the Vice President of ZTE and Wang Guangdong, the General Manager of ZTE Uzbekistan Subsidiary, visited the Sino-Finnish Design Park, and attended an exchange meeting with Shirley Feng, President of Shenzhen Industrial Design Profession Association (SIDA) and Founder of Sino-Finnish Design Park, together with enterprise representatives of Sino-Finnish Design Park, such as Luo Huan, Founder of Shenzhen CBON Design, and Jiang Zhongbiao, Co-founder of Shenzhen Z WAVE DESIGN.

Sherzod Shermatov and his delegation visited the International Exhibition Hall of Sino-Finnish Design Park, Silk Road Vision Technology Co. Ltd., Shenzhen Open Innovation Lab and Shenzhen Z WAVE DESIGN, and had an in-depth understanding of the situation of enterprises in Sino-Finnish Design Park and the positioning and operation mode of the park, as well as the development status and innovation achievements of Shenzhen industrial design industry.

At the discussion and exchange meeting, SIDA’s President Shirley Feng introduced the innovation achievements of SIDA and Sino-Finnish Design Park over the years to facilitate the industry to go out and bring in with industrial design as the starting point, and the future development prospects of Shenzhen design innovation industry. Minister Sherzod Shermatov highlighted Uzbekistan's support in science and technology and important geographical advantages as the country with a long history and culture and the largest population in Central Asia.

Both sides held in-depth discussions on cooperation in the field of creative design, and explored the possibility of joint cooperation in the "design + technology" in Uzbekistan. The cooperation model aims to combine the two sides' expertise in design and technology, promote innovation and industrial upgrading, and inject new impetus into the economic development of the two countries. Both sides agreed that there is broad potential and prospect for enhancing cooperation in the field of creative design between China and Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan is the country with the richest silk road cultural heritage in Central Asia. With the deepening of the Belt and Road Initiative, China-Uzbekistan cooperation will contribute new strength to regional and even global economic growth. This visit not only demonstrates the profound foundation of China-Uzbekistan cooperation in the field of creative design, but also draws a grand blueprint for the future development of bilateral relations. By deepening cooperation, the two countries are expected to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results in many areas and move towards a more prosperous future together.