国内英语新闻:Premier Wen's Tajikistan visit to deepen bilateral cooperation

BEIJING, Nov.18 (Xinhua) -- Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Tajikistan next week will deepen friendly cooperation between China and Tajikistan, said Cheng Guoping, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister, Thursday.

"Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two nations in 1992, bilateral relations have witnessed steady and sound development with extensive high level exchanges and increasing political mutual trust," said Cheng at a press conference.

He said because of the joint efforts by the two sides, cooperation in trade, transportation, communications, electricity and infrastructure had been expanding and fruitful.

Total bilateral trade volume in the first 10 months this year reached 1.08 billion U.S. dollars, a 2.5-percent rise from the same period last year, Cheng said.

The two countries had also supported each other in major issues of mutual concern and maintained close coordination within multilateral institutions like the UN and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), effectively guarding their own interests and making positive contributions to the world peace and development, he said.

During the visit, the leaders of the two countries would exchange ideas about bilateral cooperation as well as international and regional affairs.

Wen would also attend ninth SCO prime ministers' meeting in Tajikistan's capital of Dushanbe on Nov. 25, said Cheng.

He said the SCO member nations were expected to find common ground in promoting regional cooperation, facilitating investment, and enhancing the organization's internal construction.

Sun Yongfu, director general of department of European affairs at Ministry of Commerce, who also attended the press conference, said economic cooperation among SCO members had been fruitful due to their close trade links.

He said in the first 10 months this year the total trade volume between China and the other SCO states reached 67.9 billion U.S. dollars, up 37.4 percent year on year.

Sun said the close cooperation among SCO member nations had made positive contributions to returning the world economy back to growth.