Baku, Azerbaijan, May 23
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Speaker of the Lower House of the Tajik Parliament Shukurjon Zukhurov is confident that the Tajik-Chinese bilateral trade will increase fivefold by 2020 and reach $3 billion, Tajik media reported on May 23 citing Zukhurov as saying at a meeting with the Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (SCNPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Aleken Yeminbakhe.
The trade turnover between Tajikistan and China amounted to about $600 million in 2017.
Zukhurov expressed a belief that the Chinese economy will surpass the US economy by 2020 and become the world’s largest economy.
“We are well aware that for the past 30 years the PRC economy has been growing steadily. In 2017, China's GDP reached $12.7 trillion. In 2007, it overtook Germany in size, in 2010 - Japan and came in second place in the world. In general, since 1978, China's economy has grown more than 100 times. According to the Associated Press, China will surpass the US by 2020, and will become the world's largest economy,” he said.
Zukhurov stressed that China is the largest investor in Tajikistan.
“China has invested more than $1 billion in strategic investment projects in Tajikistan,” Zukhurov added.
Yeminbakhe on his part noted that the sincere friendship between the heads of the two countries contributes to the strengthening of the Tajik-Chinese relations.
The deputy chairman of the SCNPC of the PRC arrived in Dushanbe on May 23 with a three-day official visit. He is expected to meet with high-ranking officials of the country, in particular, with Prime Minister Kokhir Rasulzoda.
The NPC is the supreme body of state power of China. The NPC consists of members elected from provinces, autonomous regions, cities of central subordination and armed forces. The members of the NPC are elected for 5-year terms.
Aleken Yeminbakhe, a member of the CPC Central Committee of the 19th Convocation, Deputy Chairman of the SCNPC of the 13th Convocation, is an Uighur by nationality.
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