President Shavkat Mirziyoyev toured the newly opened Khiva branch of China's Liaoning Normal University and its accompanying Confucius Institute during a visit to the city.
The new educational complex was built as part of a joint project involving the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Urgench State University named after Abu Rayhan Beruni, and China's Liaoning Normal University. The state allocated 140 billion soums from the national budget for its construction and equipping, and the project has created 120 new jobs.
The complex includes academic buildings with capacity for 560 students, a library, a sports hall, a 200-seat cultural center, and a dining hall that seats 118. A separate four-story building houses classrooms for 628 students and a dormitory with 224 beds.
The university plans to admit 160 students in 2026, with enrollment eventually rising to 500 students per year and total student numbers reaching 2,000.
Classes will be offered both in person and remotely, in Uzbek, Chinese, and English. undergarduate degree programs will cover international education in Chinese, tourism management, international business, and artificial intelligence, while master's programs will focus on methods of teaching Chinese language and culture, education management, and artificial intelligence in educational technology.
Diplomas issued by the branch will be directly recognized in Uzbekistan. Top-performing graduates will have the opportunity to continue their studies on scholarships at leading Chinese universities and complete internships at prestigious Chinese organizations.
Khorezm province is currently home to 38 major projects backed by Chinese investors, with a combined value of $2.343 billion. These projects require skilled professionals proficient in both modern technology and the Chinese language, and the new university and Confucius Institute are expected to help meet that demand.
President Mirziyoyev underscored the importance of aligning educational programs with the needs of the economy and labor market, and of creating the conditions necessary for students to master modern technologies and foreign languages.
During the visit, the president was also presented with a unified national tourism platform, along with new opportunities and incentives being introduced for entrepreneurs in the tourism sector.
