Tajik President arrives in Beijing for state visit

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon arrived in Beijing on Monday to begin a four-day state visit to China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.

The visit comes after the two leaders met at last year's Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin, as China and Tajikistan continue to deepen cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and expand bilateral ties in trade, investment and infrastructure connectivity.

China and Tajikistan established diplomatic relations in 1992, and officials from both countries have described bilateral ties as being at their historical best.

Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China and Tajikistan have steadily advanced the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with Tajikistan's National Development Strategy to 2030.

China has become Tajikistan's largest trading partner and biggest source of investment. Chinese statistics showed bilateral trade exceeded 3.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first 10 months of last year, up nearly 8 percent year on year.

Cooperation in infrastructure, high technology, education and culture, and people-to-people exchanges also continues to expand.

President Xi Jinping paid state visits to Tajikistan in 2014, 2019 and 2024, while Rahmon is a frequent visitor to China, with this marking his 23rd trip to the country.

The two heads of state have maintained close exchanges and strategic communication over the years.

Tajik President arrives in Beijing for state visit

China has recorded ten consecutive quarters of growth in imports and exports with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the data for the second quarter of this year from the General Administration of Customs GAC) showed on Tuesday.

China's trade with ASEAN reached 4.34 trillion yuan (about 640 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2026, marking an 18.2-percent increase compared to the same period of last year, according to GAC.

"In the first half of this year, China's imports and exports with ASEAN stood at 4.34 trillion yuan, up 18.2 percent year on year on. Of this total, imports and exports in the second quarter accounted for 2.37 trillion yuan which represented a year-on-year growth of 20.2 percent and marking the 10th consecutive quarter of growth.," said Lyu Daliang, a spokesman for the customs bureau, at a press briefing.

"China and ASEAN have continuously strengthened infrastructure connectivity. In the first half of the year, China's imports and exports with ASEAN via the new western land-sea corridor grew by 18.2 percent, with railway and highway transport increasing by 24.7 percent and 17.5 percent, respectively," Lyu said.

Established in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Timor-Leste.

China records ten consecutive quarters of trade growth with ASEAN