DUSHANBE, May 27, 2014, Asia-Plus -- Tajik Deputy Foreign Minister, Nizomiddin Zohidov, heading government delegation is participating in a session of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) to disucss issue srelated to revival of the Silk Road.

On May 26, members of the Tajik delegation held talks with senior officials of China’s Gansu Province in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province.

The sides reportedly exchanged views on an initiative of Chinese President Xi Jinping to build the Silk Road economic belt.

They, in particular, noted that implementation of that initiative would promote further expansion of cooperation between the countries along the Silk Road, including Tajikistan and China.  

Senior officials from Gansu province expressed interest in establishment of practical cooperation between enterprises and companies of Gansu and Tajikistan in sectors like renewable energy sources, mining and oil-and-chemical industry and training of personnel.  They also express wish to establish relations with Tajikistan’s regions and cities.

We will recall that during his visit to Kazakhstan in September last year, President Xi Jinping suggested that China and Central Asia should join hands to build a Silk Road economic belt to boost cooperation.  Xi suggested that relevant countries should enhance communication and green-light regional economic integration in terms of both policy and law.  On the topic of trade, Xi said all parties should explore ways to facilitate trade and investment, and make proper arrangements.  The Chinese president also urged the regional members to promote local-currency settlement so as to improve their immunity to financial risks and their global competitiveness.

During his visit to Port of Duisburg (Germany) in March this year, Chinese president called on China and Germany to work together to build the Silk Road economic belt.  According to Xinhua, he said China''s proposal of building the Silk Road economic belt, based on the idea of common development and prosperity, aims to better connect the Asian and European markets, will enrich the idea of the Silk Road with a new meaning, and benefit all the people along the belt.

Gansu is a province of the People''s Republic of China, located in the northwest of the country.  It lies between the Tibetan and Huangtu plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, and Shaanxi to the east.  The Yellow River passes through the southern part of the province.

Gansu has a population of 26 million (2009), covers an area similar sized to California.  The capital is Lanzhou, located in the southeast part of the province.

Most of Gansu''s economy is based on mining and the extraction of minerals, especially rare earth elements. The province has significant deposits of antimony, chromium, coal, cobalt, copper, fluorite, gypsum, iridium, iron, lead, limestone, mercury, mirabilite, nickel, crude oil, platinum, troilite, tungsten, and zinc among others.  The oil fields at Yumen and Changqing are considered significant.

Gansu has China''s largest nickel deposits accounting for over 90% of China''s total nickel reserves.  Industries other than mining include electricity generation, petrochemicals, oil exploration machinery, and building materials.