Tajik president meets Chinese FM on boosting cooperation

DUSHANBE, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi here on Monday to seek closer cooperation in various areas between the two countries.

Rahmon asked Wang to convey his sincere greetings and best wishes to Chinese President Xi Jinping, wishing the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China a complete success.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and Tajikistan have always respected, trusted and supported each other, while Tajikistan has always supported major initiatives raised by China at the earliest date, he noted.

Rahmon expressed the hope that the two sides, by taking the 30th anniversary of the establishment of Tajikistan-China diplomatic relations this year as an opportunity, will carry forward their fine tradition of good-neighborliness and friendship, and continuously strengthen strategic communication so as to lift their comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.

Rahmon thanked China for providing Tajikistan with a new batch of vaccines and always lending a helping hand when Tajikistan is in need, and vigorously supporting Tajikistan in improving infrastructure and raising people's living standards for years.

China has become one of Tajikistan's biggest economic, trading and investment partners, and bilateral cooperation in various fields has been accelerated, the president said, expressing the hope that Tajikistan and China will successfully hold economic and trade cooperation commission meetings, increase the scale of bilateral trade, accelerate the implementation of key cooperation projects in the fields of connectivity, production capacity and energy, among others, to expand cooperation in mining and agriculture, and to enhance cooperation in emerging areas such as digital economy, e-governance and artificial intelligence, to facilitate Chinese investment in Tajikistan.

Wang conveyed Xi's cordial greetings to Rahmon, saying that the guidance of the heads of state is the political advantage and the greatest guarantee for stable and far-reaching bilateral relations and mutual understanding and respect; mutual trust and support are the fine traditions both countries observe.

The China-Tajikistan relations have continuously achieved continuous development and have reached a historic high, he said.

The two heads of state announced that China and Tajikistan would jointly build a development community and a security community, which reflects the unique position and strategic value of bilateral relations, Wang said.

The two sides have always stood together and firmly supported each other on issues regarding their core interests and major concerns, he said, adding that China appreciates Tajikistan's consistent policy of prioritizing developing relations with China and supporting China's initiatives.

China, likewise, is also a reliable partner Tajikistan can trust and count on, and is willing to work with Tajikistan to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, summarize the successful experience of 30 years of diplomatic relations, and set new goals for the development of their comprehensive strategic partnership.

Wang noted that China-Tajikistan economic and trade ties have grown notably stronger despite an unfavorable environment, fully demonstrating their resilience and potential.

He said that China is ready to strengthen the docking of development strategies with Tajikistan, implement key cooperation projects, share experiences in digital economy, green development and artificial intelligence, expand cooperation across the agricultural industry chain, import more high-quality agricultural products from Tajikistan, and continue to provide vaccines as needed to help Tajikistan strengthen its public health capacity.

Believing that security cooperation reflects the high level of strategic mutual trust between the two countries, the two sides will continue to jointly meet traditional and non-traditional security challenges, guard against all risks and hidden dangers and maintain regional peace and stability.

The two sides are also ready to strengthen communication and coordination within the frameworks of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the United Nations, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, and China + Central Asia (C+C5).

The two sides also exchanged in-depth views on the Afghan issue.

Also on Monday, Rustam Emomali, chairman of the National Assembly of Tajikistan, met with Wang.

During his visit to Tajikistan, Wang and Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin held talks, signed documents on cooperation between the two foreign ministries, and attended the inauguration ceremony of a Luban Workshop facility and the handover ceremony of COVID-19 vaccines to Tajikistan.