China eyes more cooperation with Tajikistan: FM

DUSHANBE, July 13 (Xinhua) -- China is looking forward to more cooperation with Tajikistan in the future, visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Tuesday.

China and Tajikistan are friendly neighbors and comprehensive strategic partners, and the strategic guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Tajik President Emomali Rahmon is the biggest political advantage and a solid guarantee for bilateral relations, Wang said during talks with Tajik Foreign Minister Sirojiddin Muhriddin.

The two countries are building the China-Tajikistan community of common development and security, and bilateral ties have taken the lead and set an example among China's relations with Central Asian countries, he noted.

As the next year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Tajikistan, new opportunities will open up for further development of bilateral ties, Wang said.

He said that China is ready to work with Tajikistan to build on the past achievements and strive for new progress to usher in another 30 years of greater successes.

Wang stressed that China and Tajikistan have, as always, understood, trusted and supported each other, protected common interests of developing countries, and upheld international equity and justice.

Both countries are "non-aligned allies" in countering foreign interference and bullying, and they should carry on such a good tradition, he said.

China is grateful to Tajikistan for always supporting China on issues concerning its core interests, Wang said, adding that China will firmly back Tajikistan in safeguarding its independence, sovereignty, and security, while opposing any foreign interference in Tajikistan's internal affairs.

He said China will continue to provide COVID-19 vaccines to Tajikistan, promote medical and health care cooperation, and help Tajikistan prevail over the pandemic.

As epidemic prevention and control has become a new normal, China is willing to strengthen the alignment of development strategies with Tajikistan, and boost high-level cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

He said China is ready to maintain a trajectory of growth in bilateral trade despite unfavorable conditions, negotiate and sign a medium-to-long-term plan on economic and trade cooperation, further facilitate trade and investment, and step up agricultural and anti-poverty cooperation.

Wang hopes that both sides will make full use of the mechanism of joint epidemic prevention and control on the borders, and enable border ports to better serve anti-pandemic efforts and economic development.

He said that the "China + Central Asia (C+C5)" is a new type of cooperation mechanism that meets the needs of countries in the region and has broad development prospects.

The C+C5 should make this mechanism bigger, stronger, and long-lasting so as to promote the sustainable development of countries in the region, Wang said.

China will fully support Tajikistan in hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit this year, he added.

Muhriddin, for his part, extended his warm congratulations on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and highly appreciated China's remarkable achievements under the leadership of the CPC.

He said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Tajikistan and China, the two countries have continuously deepened political mutual trust, closely coordinated on international and regional issues, and bilateral relations have developed rapidly.

China has set an example for other countries on effectively curbing the COVID-19 pandemic and has made great contributions to the prevention and control of the disease in the world, Muhriddin said.

He said Tajikistan is grateful to China for providing vaccines, hoping to strengthen cooperation with China in combating the pandemic, promote cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, agriculture, investment, and transportation under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Tajikistan is willing to take the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with China next year as an opportunity to achieve greater development of bilateral relations, Muhriddin said.

Tajikistan is ready to strengthen coordination and cooperation with China within such multilateral frameworks as the SCO, the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, and the C+C5, and jointly work for positive results of the SCO summit this year, he added.

The two sides also had in-depth exchanges of views on the current situation and its evolution in Afghanistan, and reached important consensuses on strengthening security cooperation between the two countries and maintaining stability in the border area.