Tajikistan-China relations have entered a new historical stage, opening up new prospects for extensive cooperation, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon said in an interview with Xinhua on the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Tajikistan from July 4-6.
According to Rahmon, this visit will inject new and strong momentum into developing and strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.
“Over the past decade, bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and China has evolved into a comprehensive strategic partnership. I believe our bilateral ties have entered a new historical stage and opened up new prospects for broad cooperation,” Rahmon said.
The Tajik president noted that China is one of Tajikistan’s major trading partners and praised the fruitful results of the alignment of development strategies and close cooperation in various fields between Tajikistan and China, as well as of the Belt and Road cooperation.
Rahmon highlighted the rapid development in bilateral economic and trade cooperation over recent years. China is one of Tajikistan’s top three trading partners, accounting for 40 percent of foreign investment in the Tajik economy, he said.
“Just a few years ago, we could not even imagine surpassing the 1.5 billion U.S. dollar mark in mutual trade. It is gratifying to note that today the trade turnover between our countries has almost reached 4 billion U.S. dollars,” Rahmon said.
He pointed out that China is the largest investor in Tajikistan. China’s investments are constantly increasing in sectors such as mining, textile, food, energy, transport, metallurgy, and agriculture. Through these investments, joint industrial parks and enterprises have been established, Rahmon said.
Rahmon said that in the long term, mutually beneficial cooperation in priority areas meets the interests of both countries. These areas include tourism, geological exploration, the export of environmentally friendly agricultural products, and the implementation of joint projects related to green economy, digital economy, artificial intelligence, and the construction of green technology factories.
The Tajik leader added that within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, strengthening transportation cooperation between Tajikistan, China and other Central Asian countries is entirely mutually beneficial.
