Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon arrives in Beijing, capital of China, May 11, 2026. Photo: Xinhua

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon arrived in Beijing on Monday afternoon, beginning a four-day state visit to China, Xinhua News Agency reported. Earlier in the day, he departed from Dushanbe International Airport for the visit, according to Tajikistan's state news agency Khovar.

Observers noted that the visit is expected to place emphasis on expanding trade ties, advancing cooperation in green energy, and deepening engagement in the digital economy, with a focus on areas such as digital infrastructure, e-commerce, smart cities, 5G and artificial intelligence.

Last year, Rahmon attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in north China's Tianjin and the grand gathering to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War in Beijing last September. 

Regarding this visit, Tajikistan's Foreign Ministry stated that it is a logical continuation of the political dialogue between the heads of state and will give new impetus to strengthening the friendship between the peoples and the good-neighborly relations between the two countries.

In an interview with China Media Group (CMG), Chinese Ambassador to Tajikistan Guo Zhijun said the visit will mark another meeting of the two heads of state following last year's Shanghai Cooperation Organization Tianjin Summit, and stands as a vivid example of head-of-state diplomacy continuing to steer China-Tajikistan relations steadily forward, CMG reported Sunday.

Tangible cooperation

According to the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan, within the framework of the visit, a high-level meeting will be held, during which a wide range of issues related to bilateral cooperation in the political, economic and trade, industrial, investment, and humanitarian spheres will be discussed.

The parties will hold a constructive exchange of views on the implementation of joint projects in priority areas, including energy, the green economy, and digital technologies, said the ministry.

Following the high-level meeting, the signing of a new package of bilateral documents is expected, which will further strengthen the legal framework of Tajikistan-China relations.

Zhu Yongbiao, executive director of the Research Center for the Belt and Road at Lanzhou University, told the Global Times on Monday that economic and trade cooperation is expected to be a major focus of Rahmon's visit to China, including efforts to further expand bilateral trade, with China serving as Tajikistan's largest trading partner, advance key Belt and Road Initiative projects such as the second phase of the China-Tajikistan highway and the China-Tajikistan Danghara Agricultural and Textile Industrial Park, and improve the investment environment.  

As cooperation between Tajikistan and China has grown increasingly close in recent years, Zhu said the two sides are also likely to deepen cooperation in energy and the green economy, including green technology transfer, industrial chain cooperation and green infrastructure development. In addition, digital economy cooperation is expected to feature prominently with related cooperation initiatives.

The talks will also cover the regional situation and the strengthening of cooperation in countering modern threats within the framework of regional and international organizations, the Tajik Foreign Ministry said.

Zhu said the talks are expected to focus on coordination within regional and multilateral frameworks, including the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the China-Central Asia mechanism, with an emphasis on counter-terrorism, anti-narcotics and cybersecurity, as well as advancing China-Central Asia community with a shared future while supporting Tajikistan in playing a greater role within these organizations.

China has become Tajikistan's largest trading partner and remains its biggest source of investment. In the first quarter of this year, bilateral trade reached $790 million, up more than 50 percent year-on-year. Guo added that a number of landmark projects have either been completed or are moving forward steadily, while connectivity, high-tech cooperation and people-to-people exchanges continue to deepen, making China and Tajikistan a model of mutually beneficial cooperation between countries, Ambassador Guo said, per CMG.

As part of the visit, an IT Forum titled "Tajik-China Digital Business Connect" was held in Beijing on Monday at the initiative of the Tajik Agency for Innovation and Digital Technologies, during which cooperation agreements worth a total of $647 million were signed, according to Tajikistan's state news agency Khovar.