China, Tajikistan strengthen ties further
China and Tajikistan have decided to elevate their ties to comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era during President Xi Jinping's visit to the Central Asia country. The decision was based on the current development needs of bilateral ties, the two countries said in a joint statement after Xi held talks with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon. Beijing and Dushanbe also announced they will jointly build a multimodal transport corridor linking China and Turkey via regional countries including Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran. China and Tajikistan also expressed the willingness to continue deepening cooperation on the China-Europe freight train services. Xi is on a state visit to Tajikistan after attending a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Astana and paying a state visit to Kazakhstan. (Xinhua)