At the invitation of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Tajikistan in mid-June and attend the Conference on Interaction and Confidence- Building Measures in Asia (CICA), writes People's Daily Online.

The visit, Xi’s second state visit to Tajikistan, is bound to become a new milestone in the development of China-Tajikistan relations and open new prospects for CICA.

The head-of-state diplomacy between the Chinese President and his Tajik counterpart has continued to guide China-Tajikistan relations to grow at a fast pace.

The development of China-Tajikistan relations embarked on a fast lane after President Xi’s first state visit to Tajikistan in 2014. In 2017, the relationship between the two countries was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

The two heads of state have established a close working relationship and deep personal friendship, made top-level design and strategic deployment of bilateral relations and all-round cooperation, and further aligned the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with Tajikistan’s national development strategy for the period up to 2030, taking bilateral relations into the best time in the history.

The construction of the BRI has advanced China-Tajikistan cooperation. Tajikistan took the lead in supporting the BRI upon its proposal, and was the first country to sign a cooperation agreement with China on joint construction of the Belt and Road.

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China and Tajikistan have taken Belt and Road cooperation as the main axis, and advanced their cooperation in economic and trade, investment, energy and chemical industry, transportation and communication, mining and metallurgy, infrastructure, agriculture and agricultural products processing.

Currently, Asian development faces complicated and severe challenges. Under this circumstance, Xi’s attendance at the conference, a platform where leaders of participating countries and heads of international organizations discuss plans for Asia’s development, is an embodiment of China’s commitment to Asia and the whole world.

China will work with Asian countries, including Tajikistan, to further expand the influence of CICA, enhance the overall cooperation level of the mechanism, and advance the construction of a safe governance model with Asian characteristics. By doing so, Asia, which is gaining increasing global attention, will embrace a bright future with greater peace and prosperity.