During a meeting that took place in the Chinese city of Xi’an on May 18 on the sidelines of the first China-Central Asia Summit, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping discussed a wide range of issues related to economic cooperation between their countries, according to the Tajik president’s press service.
Rahmon and Xi, in particular, reached an agreement to take joint measures to reconstruct the Tajik aluminum smelter, which is operated by the Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO).
The parties reportedly also agreed to take steps to organize the assembly of the Chinese-made electric vehicles (EVs) in Tajikistan.
It was underlined that introduction of modern Chinese on cultivating and processing agricultural products, especially cotton, vegetables and fruits, will be beneficial to both parties and is one of priorities of the mutual collaboration between Tajikistan and China.
The Tajik side supported the proposal to create the China-Tajikistan-Northern Afghanistan economic corridor and considered it important to develop and implement the project aimed at constructing the highway from Warshez village in Shugnan district of the Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) to the Kulma-Qarasou border crossing point on the Tajikistan-China border, the Tajik president’s press service said. This initiative was reportedly received positively by the Chinese leader.
Rahmon and Xi also discussed issues of resuming the regular Dushanbe-Beijing flight, development of the tourism infrastructure in Tajikistan, expanding educational cooperation between the countries.
The heads of state also discussed issues of providing reginal security and addressing water and climate problems.
At the end of the meeting, Emomali Rahmon invited Xi Jinping to visit Tajikistan at any time convenient for him. The invitation was accepted with pleasure, and the date of the visit will be agreed through diplomatic channels.
Emomali Rahmon and Xi Jinping signed a joint statement.
The following 13 documents were signed in the presence of them:
– A government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and China on conducting joint anti-terrorist exercises;
– A government-to-government protocol between Tajikistan and China on receiving forensic equipment for DNA identification;
– A memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the Committee on TV and Radio-broadcasting of Tajikistan and the State Council Information Office of China;
– A government-to-government agreement between Tajikistan and China on providing grant assistance;
– A MoU on cooperation between the Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Transport of China;
– A MoU on cooperation between the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Commerce of China on the expansion of trade;
– A government-to-government cooperation between Tajikistan and China on searching and rescuing;
– A protocol between the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan and the Ministry of Science and Technologies of China on approval of the list of joint scientific and technical projects on financing for 2022-2023;
– A plan of actions on implementation of an agreement on the establishment of sister city relations between Tajikistan’s Khatlon Province and China’s Shaanxi Province;
– An agreement on the establishment of sister city relations between Danghara District of Tajikistan’s Khatlon Province and Weinan City of China’s Shaanxi Province;
– A MoU on the establishment of relations of friendship and cooperation between Dushanbe City of Tajikistan and Chengdu City of China;
– A MoU on the establishment of relations of friendship and cooperation between Khujand City of Tajikistan and Lanzhou City of China;
– A protocol between the Committee for Food Security under the Government of Tajikistan and the Main Customs Administration of China on phytosanitary requirements for the export of fresh grapes from Tajikistan to China.
Besides, the parties reportedly also signed 11 document of cooperation in the fields of agriculture, science, mass media, finance and technologies.
