Tajikistan has welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state visit to the Central Asian country at the invitation of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.
Xi arrived in the Tajik capital of Dushanbe on Thursday after paying a state visit to Kazakhstan where he also attended the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the Kazakh capital Astana.
This is President Xi's third state visit to Tajikistan, with the last coming back in 2019.
Tajikistan is a landlocked country lying in southeastern Central Asia with a population of 10.36 million and a land area covering 143,000 square kilometers. The country is home to some of the highest mountains in the world, with 93 percent of its territory being mountainous.
Dushanbe is the political, economic, cultural and transportation center of Tajikistan.
Tajikistan and China are close neighbors and have been historically connected for centuries by the ancient Silk Road.
China and Tajikistan established diplomatic relations in 1992 and a strategic partnership in 2013.
In 2017, President Xi and President Rahmon signed a joint statement on establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership during Rahmon's state visit to China.
In May last year, the two presidents announced the building of a China-Tajikistan community with a shared future featuring everlasting friendship, solidarity and mutual benefit.
Tajikistan was among the first countries to support the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) proposed by President Xi in 2013 and to sign related cooperation agreements with China.
In recent years, BRI cooperation between the two countries has produced significant results, including the development of thermal power plants, power grids and transportation infrastructure, which have effectively contributed to improving Tajikistan's vital infrastructure, creating jobs and fostering socio-economic growth.
Through BRI cooperation with China, several landmark transport projects have been completed in Tajikistan, including the Dushanbe-Chanak Highway and the Vahdat-Yavan railway tunnel, which connected the previously separated railways in southern and northern Tajikistan and became a crucial part of the railway network linking China, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Iran.
China's economic cooperation with Tajikistan goes beyond transportation and includes investments in agriculture, mining, textiles, telecommunications and cement. These investments have not only brought technology to the country but also helped establish industry standards, create jobs and promote industrialization.
China is the largest source of foreign direct investment in Tajikistan and one of the country's major trading partners. Last year, two-way trade reached 3.9 billion U.S. dollars, a 53.5 percent year-on-year increase.
China's increasingly amicable ties with Tajikistan have also been demonstrated through cultural and educational exchanges. Recent years have witnessed an increasing number of Tajik students enroll in the country's Confucius Institutes or heading to pursue studies in China. The first Luban Workshop in Central Asia has been operating in Dushanbe for two years, cultivating many talents for Tajikistan's vocational education and the country's industrialization.
Brief look at Central Asian country of Tajikistan as Xi arrives for state visit
