Tajik prime minister meets with Chen Bingde

Oqil Oqilov, prime minister of the Republic of Tajikistan, met with Gen. Chen Bingde, member of the Central Military Commission (CMC) of the People's Republic of China and chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) who was on an official goodwill visit to Tajikistan, on June 6, 2012 at the state guesthouse in Dushanbe, capital of Tajikistan, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

Oqilov said that China is a great neighbor of Tajikistan. The economic and social development, the improvement in people's living standards and national defense and army building of Tajikistan cannot go without China's support and assistance. Strengthening mutual trust and consolidating traditional friendship between Tajikistan and China will benefit not only the bilateral relations but also the maintenance of regional peace and stability.

Oqilov asked Chen Bingde to convey his warm greetings and best wishes to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Chen Bingde conveyed the warm greetings and best wishes of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to Oqilov. He said that China and Tajikistan have been supporting each other and cooperating with each other in international and regional affairs and have made remarkable achievements in the pragmatic cooperation in various fields including economy and trade, security and humanities since the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Chen Bingde said that the relations between the two militaries are an important component of the relations between the two countries. The two militaries have constantly enriched the contents and expanded the fields of the bilateral cooperation in recent years and also conducted fruitful cooperation in defense and security within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The Chinese side is willing to make joint efforts with the Tajik side to constantly promote the friendly and cooperative relations between the two militaries to a new high.