Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping met in the Kazakh capital, Astana, yesterday ahead of the 17th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
According to the Tajik president’s official website, Rahmon and Xi discussed state and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and China.
Tajik leader reportedly expressed satisfaction with the current level of cooperation between the two countries and noted that Tajikistan attached significance to its cooperation with China.
The two sides, in particular, exchanged views on cooperation between the two countries in the fields of politics, economics, science and culture.
They agreed to expand bilateral cooperation between their countries in the fields of finance and banking, mitigating effects of natural disasters and implementing infrastructure development projects.
Tajik and Chinese leaders also touched upon the issue of the beginning of the construction of the Tajik section of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline and construction of a rail link connecting China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran.
Rahmon and Xi also discussed cooperation between Tajikistan and China in combating extremism, terrorism and drug trafficking as well as contributing to providing peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Chinese leader invited Emomali Rahmon to pay visit to China in the near future, Tajik president’s website said.
