Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev hailed President Xi Jinping as "the greatest statesman and an outstanding leader in the contemporary world" as he conferred the nation's highest honor on Xi during a ceremony on Thursday.

Xi became the first person to receive the Order of Friendship, the highest honor that the nation confers on a foreigner, during a ceremony held at the International Conference Center in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

Mirziyoyev commended the major contributions made by Xi in enhancing bilateral friendship, consolidating mutual trust and deepening bilateral cooperation.

Xi is the well-deserved core of the Communist Party of China and core of the whole Chinese people, he said.