General

Tajikistan is a neighboring country in northwest China and an important node country on the Silk Road Economic Belt. China and Tajikistan have a long history of exchanges and cultural exchanges.

Since the implementation of the "the Belt and Road" initiative 10 years ago, China Tajikistan economic and trade cooperation has been further deepened, bringing many tangible benefits to the two peoples. The China Central Asia Summit held in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province from May 18th to 19th opened a new chapter in international trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Economic and trade cooperation continues to develop well

China and Tajikistan are "good neighbors, good friends, and good partners". Since the establishment of diplomatic ties on January 4, 1992, under the arrangement and deployment of the leaders of the two countries, China Tajikistan all-round practical cooperation has been deepening, the initiative of jointly building the "the Belt and Road" has achieved remarkable results, and the international trade and economic cooperation between the two countries has entered a new stage with fruitful results.

In 2017, the relationship between the two countries was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership, further promoting the development of practical cooperation between the two sides. The two sides actively promote the in-depth connection between the "the Belt and Road" initiative and Tajikistan's "National Development Strategy by 2030", earnestly implement the outline of China Tajikistan cooperation plan, strengthen cooperation in transportation, energy, ports and network infrastructure construction, and build a new pattern of all-round connectivity.

In the past 30 years, the scale of trade between China and Tajikistan has been continuously expanding, from less than 3 million US dollars at the beginning of the establishment of diplomatic relations to nearly 2.6 billion US dollars by 2022, an increase of several hundred times. According to data from the Tajikistan National Bureau of Statistics, in the first quarter of 2023, Tajikistan's foreign trade volume was 1.54 billion US dollars, with trade with China accounting for 20.8%.

Tajikistan's main export commodities include various raw materials, including mineral products, electricity, precious metals, and textile materials; The main imported commodities include mineral products, electromechanical equipment, chemical products, etc.

The main destination countries of the country's export goods are Kazakhstan, China, Türkiye and Uzbekistan, and the main source countries of import goods are Russia, China, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

China has maintained Tajikistan's position as the largest source of investment for many years. According to statistics from Tajikistan, as of the end of 2022, Tajikistan has attracted a total of 3.745 billion US dollars in Chinese investment, accounting for 32.6% of the total foreign investment introduced by Tajikistan. At present, the two countries are implementing a series of important infrastructure projects in various fields such as transportation, energy, industry, and agriculture.

Promoting "Folk Diplomacy" through Enterprise Cooperation

As the practitioners of the "the Belt and Road" initiative, Chinese enterprises in Tajikistan have played a positive role in deepening China Tajikistan friendly relations and promoting practical cooperation in international trade and economy between the two countries.

According to statistics, there are currently more than 300 Chinese enterprises in Tajikistan, mainly investing in enterprises such as China Petroleum China Tajikistan Natural Gas Pipeline Co., Ltd., China Thailand New Silk Road Textile Industry Co., Ltd., China National Mineral Parut Company, China Tazelavshan Co., Ltd., Tazhong Mining Industry Co., Ltd., Huaxin Yawan Cement Co., Ltd., and Haili Company, covering fields such as agriculture, mining, textiles, telecommunications, and cement.

As an important channel on the ancient Asia Europe trade route, Xinjiang plays an indispensable role in the process of jointly building the "the Belt and Road" initiative. More and more enterprises in Xinjiang are actively "going global" and expanding international trade overseas markets.

The Zhongtai New Silk Road Agricultural Textile Industrial Park, built by Xinjiang Zhongtai Group in Dangala District, Khatlon Oblast, Tajikistan, has achieved the full industrial chain operation of cotton from a seed to a garment, filling the gap in local agriculture and textile industry, leading the development of farming and textile technology, solving the problem of drinking water for 50000 people and irrigation for 150000 acres of farmland, and contributing a large amount of tax revenue to the local area.

The 500kV "South North" transmission and transformation project undertaken by TBEA in Tajikistan has connected the two major power grids in the north and south, solving the problem of relying on Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan for electricity supply in the northern region of the country, and achieving the unification of the Tajikistan national power grid. President Rahmon of Tajikistan stated in his completion speech that the project will be recorded in history as a monument to the friendship between the Chinese and Tajikistan peoples.

Nowadays, more and more Chinese enterprises are becoming an indispensable support for the economic development of Tajikistan and an irreplaceable ambassador for the "civilian diplomacy" between the two countries.

China Asia Summit Helps Cooperation Take to a New Level

From May 18th to 19th, the China Central Asia Summit was held in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. During the meeting, President Rahmon of Tajikistan said that Tajikistan is willing to promote the in-depth docking of Tajikistan's national development strategy with the initiative of jointly building the "the Belt and Road", learn from China's development experience, and strengthen bilateral cooperation in economy, trade, production capacity, agriculture, transportation, green economy, people to people and cultural fields.

The successful hosting of the summit, as well as the signing of joint statements and a series of cooperation agreements, will bring China Tajikistan economic and trade cooperation to a new level.

Tajikistan Avista News Agency reporter Anushervon Rasurov stated that the China Central Asia mechanism will promote the development of various fields in Tajikistan, with promising prospects. He said, "China is the largest trading partner in Central Asia, and China is actively investing in infrastructure in Central Asia, such as roads, railways, hydroelectric power plants, etc., further enhancing the potential for economic and trade cooperation between China and Central Asia

Speaking of the practical cooperation between China and Tajikistan in recent years, Guzel Metkinova, director of the Geopolitical Research Center at Russia Tajik Slav University, said that with the help of China, a large number of good projects promoting development and benefiting people's livelihoods have taken root in Tajikistan. She said, "The two sides have signed many national level cooperation agreements and implemented a large number of projects to promote economic development and strategic transportation infrastructure construction in Tajikistan

Tajikistan's Foreign Minister Muhridin stated in his evaluation of the summit, "The comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Tajikistan has been continuously improving and upgrading, and the successful holding of the China Asia Summit has opened a new chapter in China Tajikistan relations

It is reported that Tajikistan is currently implementing over 170 investment projects with a total value of over 8 billion US dollars. Local laws provide investors with over 240 guarantees and benefits, including over 100 tax and tariff exemptions and benefits. In the future, international trade and economic cooperation between China and Tajikistan will inevitably enter a high-speed road.