Tajik President Emomali Rahmon Meets with Wang Yi

On August 1, 2022 local time, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Dushanbe.

Rahmon asked Wang Yi to convey his cordial greetings and best wishes to President Xi Jinping and wished the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China a complete success. Rahmon said since the establishment of diplomatic ties, China and Tajikistan have respected, trusted and supported each other, and the Tajik side has been very responsive to the major initiatives and proposals put forward by the Chinese side. Tajikistan wishes to take the opportunity of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations to carry forward the fine tradition of good-neighborliness and friendship between the two countries, further deepen strategic communication, and lift the Tajikistan-China comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.

Rahmon thanked China for providing Tajikistan with a new batch of vaccines, lending a helping hand whenever Tajikistan is in need, and for the long-standing and strong support for Tajikistan’s effort to improve infrastructure and enhance people’s livelihood. Rahmon noted that China has become one of Tajikistan’s biggest economic, trade and investment partners, and bilateral cooperation in various fields is advancing at a faster pace. Tajikistan hopes to see the two sides hold a successful meeting of the Joint Committee on Economy and Trade, further scale up bilateral trade, accelerate the implementation of key cooperation projects on connectivity, production capacity and energy, among others, and expand cooperation in new emerging areas like digital economy, e-governance and artificial intelligence. Tajikistan will provide facilitation for Chinese enterprises to invest in Tajikistan.

Wang Yi conveyed the cordial greetings of President Xi Jinping to President Rahmon, saying that the guidance of the two heads of state is the political advantage and the biggest guarantee for stable and long-term development of China-Tajikistan relations, and that mutual understanding and respect, and mutual trust and support are the fine traditions followed by both sides. Growing by leaps and bounds, China-Tajikistan relations have reached the highest level in history. As the two presidents have announced, China and Tajikistan will work jointly to build a community of development and a community of security, which reflects the unique positioning and strategic value of bilateral relations. On issues involving each other's core interests and major concerns, the two sides have always stood together and had each other’s back. Chinas appreciates Tajikistan’s enduring commitment to prioritizing relations with China in its diplomatic agenda, and supporting China-proposed initiatives and propositions. Likewise, China is also a trustworthy and reliable partner that Tajikistan can fall back on, and stands ready to work together with Tajikistan to implement the important common understanding reached between the two presidents, take stock of the successful experience of the past 30 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, and set new goals for China-Tajikistan comprehensive strategic partnership, thereby creating a brighter future for the two peoples.

Wang Yi said the China-Tajikistan economic and trade exchanges have expanded considerably despite an unfavorable environment, fully demonstrating the resilience and potential of the relationship. China will work together with Tajikistan to foster greater synergy of development strategies, ensure successful implementation of key cooperation projects, and share experience in digital economy, green development and artificial intelligence. China will also expand agricultural cooperation with Tajikistan across the whole industrial chain, import more quality agricultural products from Tajikistan, continue to provide vaccine support to Tajikistan in accordance with its needs, and help Tajikistan enhance public health capacity building.

The two sides shared the view that security cooperation embodies the high-level strategic mutual trust between the two countries. Both sides will continue to work jointly to respond to the traditional and non-traditional security challenges, guard against all risks and hidden dangers, and safeguard regional peace and stability. The two sides are also ready to enhance 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 Central Asia+China Cooperation.

The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on the Afghan issue.

On the same day, Chairman of the National Assembly of Tajikistan Rustam Emomali met with Wang Yi.

During his visit to Tajikistan, Wang Yi also held talks with Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin. Together, they signed cooperation documents between the two foreign ministries, and attended the inauguration ceremony of the Luban Workshop in Tajikistan and the handover ceremony of China-aided COVID-19 vaccines to Tajikistan.