Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon Jointly Meet t...

On the afternoon of July 5, 2024 local time, President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon jointly met the press after their talks at the Presidential Palace in Dushanbe.

Xi Jinping noted that he is back in Tajikistan for a state visit after a gap of five years, and once again he feels the everlasting friendship and brotherhood between the Chinese and Tajik peoples.

Xi Jinping said that he just had rich and fruitful talks with President Emomali Rahmon. They signed a joint statement announcing the establishment of China-Tajikistan comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era, and agreed to work together from a higher starting point to build a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, solidarity and mutual benefit. The two leaders witnessed the exchange of more than 20 inter-governmental and inter-departmental documents covering cooperation in economy and trade, connectivity, minerals, security and people-to-people exchanges. China-Tajikistan relations have gained a new positioning, opening up new prospects for bilateral cooperation.

Xi Jinping said he awarded the "Friendship Medal" of the People's Republic of China to President Rahmon in recognition of his exceptional contributions to the development of China-Tajikistan relations. This is the first time the Chinese side has held a medal awarding ceremony outside of China, which fully demonstrates the profound friendship of the Chinese people toward President Rahmon and the people of Tajikistan.

Xi Jinping emphasized that the two sides will, as always, firmly advance friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation, steadfastly support each other in pursuing a development path suited to each other's national conditions, and safeguard their respective national sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity. No matter how the international situation changes, China will always be Tajikistan's trustworthy friend, reliable partner and close brother. The two sides agreed to focus on high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, promote the synergy of the two countries' development strategies on all fronts, and help each other advance the modernization drive. China is ready to import more quality products from Tajikistan and continuously upgrade the quality and scale of China-Tajikistan economic and trade cooperation. China will continue to deepen cooperation on connectivity with Tajikistan and support Tajikistan in further tapping into the potential of transit transport. The two countries also need to deepen cooperation on mineral resources, upgrade agricultural cooperation, and foster new growth areas in cooperation on new quality productive forces such as new energy, digital economy, artificial intelligence and e-commerce. The two sides are ready to strengthen people-to-people exchanges and cooperation in an all-round way to consolidate popular support for everlasting friendship between the two countries. The two countries should make good use of such platforms as the Sino-Tajik Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Luban Workshop, step up efforts to promote the establishment of cultural centers in each other's countries, and support more exchanges between the youth, media organizations, think tanks, women, and educational institutions of the two countries.

Xi Jinping pointed out that China and Tajikistan are determined to further strengthen security cooperation, jointly crack down on the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, including the "East Turkestan Islamic Movement," safeguard the border security of the two countries, unequivocally oppose the interference by the third party in the internal affairs of the two countries, and jointly safeguard the security and stability of the region. The two sides will continue to strengthen communication and coordination on the Afghan issue, jointly participate in the cooperation of the Afghanistan-related mechanisms, encourage the Afghan interim government to establish an inclusive political framework, focus on development, and improve people's livelihood, resolutely crack down on terrorism-related illegal and criminal activities, and pursue good-neighborly friendship.

The two sides spoke highly of the achievements of China-Central Asia cooperation and are ready to uphold the principle of seeking truth from facts and continuously improve and strengthen the China-Central Asia mechanism. China has taken over the rotating Chairmanship of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and will host the SCO summit in China next year. President Rahmon is welcome to attend the summit and jointly discuss plans for the development of the organization.

Xi Jinping stressed that against the backdrop of the accelerated changes in the world unseen in a century, the importance of strengthening solidarity and collaboration in the international community has become more prominent. China advocates an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. China is ready to work with the Tajik side to actively implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative, to contribute the two countries' strength to the cause of world peace and development.

Emomali Rahmon said President Xi Jinping's state visit to Tajikistan is an important milestone in the history of Tajikistan-China relations, and will inject strong new impetus into the development of the Tajikistan-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in the new era. Tajikistan and China enjoy good-neighborly friendship, and bilateral relations have always been based on mutual understanding, mutual trust and mutual support. Rahmon said during his talks with President Xi Jinping, both leaders expressed satisfaction with the high-level development of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries and the fruitful outcomes of cooperation, and reached new common understandings on the future development of bilateral relations. The two leaders jointly witnessed the exchange of a series of important cooperation agreements, which will strongly strengthen practical cooperation between the two countries in various fields. Tajikistan welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest in Tajikistan and help the country accelerate its industrialization and modernization drives. Tajikistan is ready to strengthen security cooperation with China, combat the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, and safeguard the common security of the two countries. Tajikistan and China are both peace-loving nations, and Tajikistan is ready to continue close communication and cooperation with China within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the China-Central Asia mechanism and make positive contributions to regional peace and stability. Rahmon also expressed his confidence that the two countries will witness continued prosperity of China going forward.

Cai Qi and Wang Yi, among others, were present.