Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Economic and diplomatic relations between Tajikistan and China have been flourishing. Beijing provides loans in various fields of the Tajik economy.

The Chinese National Petroleum Company (CNPC) has started oil and gas exploration work in Tajikistan. China's Zijin Mining Group has invested $200 million in gold mining in Tajikistan. Another Chinese company, China Global, intends to invest $500 million in the metallurgical plant construction.

But there is dissatisfaction among the Tajik people who worry that the increasing Chinese economic activity in Central Asia puts Tajikistan's sovereignty in danger. But some experts consider that China's growing influence is not a threat to Tajikistan's sovereignty, charging that the main threat for the country is internal corruption and poor management.

Currently China is the preferred economic partner of Tajikistan: last year the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $669 million.

The Tajik government is interested in developing cooperation with China: Tajik President Emomali Rahmon on a visit to China in June 2012 said that the relations with China are a priority in Tajikistan's foreign policy. As a result of the visit the two countries signed agreements for Beijing to extend $1 billion to Dushanbe in grants and credits.

China wants stable and peaceful neighbors. By investing in projects in Tajikistan, China is meeting its interests. According to analysts, political stability of Tajikistan is very important for China, especially because its borders with Tajikistan cross in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region where the Uyghur minority lives.

Development of relations with China is also favorable for Dushanbe. Experts believe that cooperation with China offers Tajikistan a chance to develop new sources of revenue, away from its traditional reliance on production of cotton and aluminum and remittances from labor migrants.

For instance, on January 12, 2011 Tajikistan ceded 1 percent of its territory to China to solve the border demarcation problem which dated back to the Tsarist era. Although the handover was hailed as a triumph, a "diplomatic victory" by Tajik authorities, critics argue that the ceded land could contain large deposits of gold, uranium and other metals.

Several experts take into account this fact and believe that China, having invested over $1 billion during the past two years in Tajikistan's economy, does not expect any political dividends. According to the analysts, if there were still territorial issues, China possibly would bring them to the fore in the future, though these problems have been apparently resolved and the demarcation of borders is complete.