President Xi awards friendship medal to Tajik president

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday awarded Tajik President Emomali Rahmon the Friendship Medal of the People's Republic of China in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan.

It is the first time the award has been presented outside of China.

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.

"President Rahmon and I have met 15 times. We enjoy a good working relationship and a deep personal friendship as we jointly guide the development of China-Tajikistan relations," Xi said in a signed article published on Friday on Tajik media.

Xi had received the Order of the Crown, Tajikistan's highest decoration, from Rahmon in June 2019. During the ceremony held at the presidential palace back then, Rahmon spoke highly of Xi's positive contributions to the development of Tajikistan-China relations, saying he was ready to work together with Xi to guide bilateral relations toward greater achievements.

In the Tajik language, the word "Taj" means "crown." Noting that the Order of the Crown embodies the profound friendship the people of Tajikistan have kept with the people of China, Xi said he attaches great significance to the decoration.

Under the guidance of the two heads of state, China and Tajikistan have forged closer ties and people-to-people exchanges over time.

Gulbnur Rahmonova is the head of the folk music department at Tajikistan state college of music arts. She gave a solo guzheng (Chinese zither) performance in 2019 when Xi paid a state visit to Tajikistan.

The guzheng she played was a gift from the Chinese side.

"When the performance ended, there was prolonged applause. It's safe to say that no one in Tajikistan had ever performed with such an instrument; neither had anyone played it in front of state leaders. Therefore, the performance was really surprising," Rahmonova said.

In November 2015, Tajikistan state college of music arts signed a cooperation agreement with China's Lanzhou University of Arts and Science, allowing students from both sides to exchange and study at the other college.

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the number of Tajik students attending Confucius Institutes in their country or studying in China. Since its establishment in August 2008, the Confucius Institute at the Tajik National University has trained nearly 39,000 Chinese language learners.

(Cover: Chinese President Xi Jinping awards Tajik President Emomali Rahmon the Friendship Medal of the People's Republic of China at the presidential palace in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, July 5, 2024. /Xinhua)