Chinese, Tajik presidents agree to deepen strategic partnership

"The China-Tajikistan relationship is an important component of China's neighborhood diplomacy," visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping told his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon during their talks. Since the two countries established strategic partnership last year, they have further consolidated political mutual trust and sped up cooperation in all fields, and the bilateral relations have demonstrated great vitality and development potential, Xi said, adding that the five-year plan will be the roadmap for further all-round cooperation between the two nations, Xinhua reports. Expecting Rahmon to attend an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) host-partners dialogue scheduled for November in Beijing, Xi said both sides should maintain frequent mutual high-level visits and strengthen governmental, legislative and party-to-party exchanges. Xi proposed that both sides strive to increase bilateral trade to 3 billion U.S. dollars in next five years. He urged the two countries to seize the opportunity of China's Silk Road Economic Belt initiative and boost cooperation in various fields. China and Tajikistan, he said, should cooperate more closely in the areas of oil and gas, electricity, trade and transportation infrastructure construction, improve mutual inter-connectivity, and guarantee a smooth construction of the China-Central Asia natural gas pipeline.