A grand ceremony was held at Tajikistan's Dushanbe International Airport on Thursday evening to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has arrived to start a state visit to the Central Asian country.
As drone footage of the ceremony shows, more than 1,500 Tajik youths dressed in traditional attire staged a vibrant singing and dancing performance combining both unique Chinese features and distinctive Tajik cultural elements.
The crowd of performers also waved Chinese and Tajik national flags to warmly welcome President Xi as he disembarked from his plane and was later personally greeted by Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.
Xi is paying a state visit at the invitation of Rahmon, with this marking his first trip to Tajikistan since 2019.
Drone footage records grand ceremony as young Tajik performers welcome Xi's arrival
Global auction houses are increasingly offering more expensive art pieces to Chinese consumers, thanks to the streamlined process facilitated by preferential policies in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone.
Previously, bringing art pieces into China involved a complex and lengthy clearance process. However, since the establishment of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone in 2013, this procedure has become significantly faster and more straightforward.
Before 2013, art and cultural objects destined for China had to undergo extensive clearance procedures that could often stretch for months or even years. Now, these formalities are efficiently managed within Shanghai.
"The Shanghai customs bureau allows art pieces to come first and then be declared for clearance. And the local officials also help to shorten the examination period. All these have helped art pieces to come via the Shanghai Free Trade Zone for display and sale in China," said Wang Jiaming, deputy general manager of Shanghai Free Trade Zone International Culture Investment and Development.
Shanghai FTZ streamlines art imports, expanding access for Chinese consumers
