On the morning of August 21, Yin Yong, Mayor of Beijing, met with Rustam Emomali, Chairman of the National Assembly of Tajikistan and Mayor of Dushanbe.

Yin said that in May this year, President Xi Jinping held talks with President Rahmon, who came to China for the China-Central Asia Summit and a state visit, in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. The meeting charted the course for the development of China-Tajikistan relations. As the capital of China, Beijing is a dynamic modern metropolis with a long history. Keeping to Beijing’s strategic positioning as the "four centers", we are making consistent effort to advance high-level opening-up and high-quality development. Beijing stands ready to work with Dushanbe to implement the important consensus reached by the heads of the two countries, and give full play to the role of the capital in leading sub-national exchanges. The two cities can  establish platforms for cooperation between government agencies, companies, and scientific research institutes to expand cooperation in such fields as economy and trade; draw on each other’s successful experience in urban development and governance and unlock the potential for cooperation in smart city development; and expand people-to-people exchanges and enrich friendly exchanges to contribute to closer friendship and better well-being of the people of China and Tajikistan.

Emomali highly commended Beijing's socio-economic achievements, and expressed willingness to deepen the friendly relations with Beijing from a new starting point, expand exchanges and cooperation in fields such as economy, trade, science and technology, education, culture, and tourism, so as to enhance the friendship between the two countries and promote common development for mutual benefit and win-win results.

After the meeting, Yin and Emomali signed a memorandum of understanding on friendly exchanges and cooperation between Beijing and Dushanbe.

Saidzoda Zohir Ozod, Tajik Ambassador to China; Tian Xuejun, Vice Chairman of the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the National People's Congress; and Mu Peng, Secretary General of the People's Government of Beijing Municipality attended the meeting.

(Written by Gao Zhi)