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New Delhi: Expanding its controversial biological testing and research programs on foreign lands, China is planning to set up a bio-lab in Uzbekistan. The talks of establishing a scientific research facility in Uzbekistan come after Beijing’s leadership offered their Tashkent counterparts a COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese scientists, which allegedly succeeded in the second stage of clinical trials.
Reports indicate that talks between Beijing and Tashkent have started to develop this bio-lab, even as pressure continues to mount on China over its mishandling of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
According to information, the concept of the bio-lab was introduced by the Chinese Ambassador to Uzbekistan Jiang Yan in his meeting with Uzbekistan’s Innovative Development Minister Ibrohim Abdurahmonov.
Government officials claimed that the bio-lab would be developed under the cooperation agreement signed between China and Uzbekistan on science and technology in November 2019. Under agreements with the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, a special competition was announced on 17 September 2019 for the best science projects. In all, the 20 best projects, approved by Uzbek and Chinese sides, will be funded valued around $2 million. In addition, Uzbekistan plans to intensify cooperation with Chinese partners in energy, biotechnology, agriculture, medicine, and a number of other areas.
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A statement issued by Uzbekistan’s ministry read that ‘an Uzbek delegation headed by the innovation development minister was supposed to visit China in the first quarter of 2020. However, given the epidemiological situation, the issue of organizing this visit has been postponed indefinitely, but the Ambassador stressed that as soon as the quarantine restrictions are lifted, the Chinese side is ready to immediately receive the Uzbek delegation.’
The innovation development minister in the statement also said that cooperation was expanding between China and Uzbekistan in the field of innovation technology parks. Thus, work is underway to implement an investment project to create an Uzbek-Chinese medical technology park, which will work on the synthesis of medicines in the Navoi Region. Reports stated that a memorandum of understanding was signed with the Shanghai Science and Technology Exchange Centre in June. At the same time, jointly with the Xinjiang Institute of Physics and Chemical Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it is planned to establish an Uzbek-Chinese joint laboratory ‘Biotechnology and new materials’, at which joint research will be conducted.
