Xi arrives in Tajikistan for SCO summit, state visit

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Dushanbe on Thursday for the 14th summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and a state visit to Tajikistan. [Special coverage]

The 14th meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State will discuss regional security and economic cooperation. Leaders will exchange views on current international and regional issues of major concern.

Leaders will also sign and issue the Dushanbe Declaration, approve a series of documents on SCO expansion and pass a resolution on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.

An agreement on the facilitation of international road transport among the SCO member states is also likely.

During the summit, Xi will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and other leaders.

The SCO brings together China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan with Afghanistan, India, Iran, Mongolia and Pakistan as observers, and Belarus, Turkey and Sri Lanka as dialogue partners.

The SCO has created regional anti-terror agencies, signed a convention on the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism, and held more than 10 joint anti-terror drills, which effectively deterred terrorists and extremist forces in the region, Xi said in an article published Wednesday in Tajikistan's People's Gazette newspaper on the eve of his trip to Tajikistan.

After attending the SCO summit meeting slated for Thursday and Friday, Xi will pay a state visit to Tajikistan.

He will hold talks with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and meet with Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda and Lower House Speaker Shukurjon Zuhurov.

According to Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping, the two leaders will sign a series of documents which will deepen strategic partnership and plan the development of bilateral relations for the next five years.

Tajikistan is China's important neighboring country and the bilateral ties are "at the best in history," said Xi in his article, adding that China is paying high attention to its relations with Tajikistan and regarding the Central Asian country as an important cooperative partner for China to open to the west.

Tajikistan is the first leg of Xi's four-nation Asia trip, which will also take him to the Maldives, Sri Lanka and India.