China will finance the construction of nine border facilities in areas of Tajikistan bordering Afghanistan. The total cost of the project exceeds 550 million somoni, and the expenses will be fully covered by the Chinese government. In return, the Tajik side will exempt the project from taxes, customs duties, and other mandatory payments.
The draft agreement was reviewed and approved by the Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) during a session on March 4.
According to officials, the project aims to strengthen the material and technical capabilities of Tajikistan’s Border Troops.
Murodali Rajabzoda, First Deputy Chairman of the State Committee for National Security (SCNS) of Tajikistan, told lawmakers that the project will be implemented in three stages. He noted that exchange letters required to launch the second stage have already been signed.
According to the documents, the total construction area will cover 17,109 square meters. The cost of the facilities is estimated at around 569 million somoni (about 424.83 million Chinese yuan), which will be provided by the Chinese government as a grant.
“The Tajik side will ensure the project is exempt from taxes, customs duties and other mandatory payments,” Rajabzoda said.
Authorities have not yet specified the exact locations where the facilities will be built or the precise type of border infrastructure planned.
China to provide infrastructure and equipment
Bakhriddin Ziyoi, a member of the Majlisi Namoyandagon Committee on Law and Order, Defense and Security, said the Chinese side will also conduct research and design work and supply equipment and construction materials.
China will send engineers to Tajikistan to install and configure the equipment. Beijing will also provide office and residential furniture as well as computer equipment for the facilities.
The project also includes the construction of access roads, water supply and drainage systems, electricity connections, and other necessary infrastructure.
According to Ziyoi, Chinese funding will begin once all domestic procedures in China are completed.
He added that the exchange letters were approved by the Tajik government in November 2025 and later submitted to parliament after being coordinated with relevant ministries and agencies.
“The documents underwent anti-corruption review, and no factors creating conditions for corruption were identified,” the lawmaker said.
According to the SCNS, during the first phase of the project in 2017–2018, China financed the construction of 12 border facilities in Tajikistan’s border areas with Afghanistan.
Debate over China’s military role
Reports about the construction of a new facility for Tajik security forces funded by China in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region (GBAO) previously sparked debate about a potential Chinese military presence in Central Asia.
The issue was raised in Tajikistan’s parliament in October 2021, when lawmakers discussed an agreement between Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry and China’s Ministry of Public Security to build a facility in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region.
Later, Tajikistan’s Interior Ministry denied the reports, stating that claims about the construction of a Chinese military base in the country were not true and that such an issue was not on the agenda of bilateral relations.
The topic resurfaced in 2024 after the British newspaper The Telegraph reported that China was allegedly secretly building a military base in Tajikistan amid growing threats from the Taliban, who are in power in Afghanistan.
Tajikistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs again rejected the claim, saying there is no Chinese military base in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region.
