BEIJING, July 5, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Chinese President Xi Jinping was in neighbouring Tajikistan on Friday for a visit aimed at boosting ties, state media reported.

Xi arrived overnight from Kazakhstan following a gathering of leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), during which he held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and urged the bloc to "resist external interference".

A report by state news agency Xinhua from the Tajik capital Dushanbe said Xi had vowed to take "China-Tajikistan all-round cooperation to a higher level".

In a written statement published as he arrived in Tajikistan, Xi said he would hold talks with President Emomali Rahmon and expected the pair to make "new plans and arrangements" for boosting ties and hold an "in-depth exchange of views on the current international and regional situation".

On Thursday in the Kazakh capital Astana, Xi told SCO leaders: "We should join hands to resist external interference, firmly support each other, take care of each other's concerns... and firmly control the future and destiny of our countries and regional peace and development in our own hands."

The SCO was founded in 2001 but has come to prominence in recent years. Alongside China, Russia and Belarus, its full members are: India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan.

"It is of vital importance to the world that the SCO be on the right side of history and on the side of fairness and justice," Xi added.

Rahmon held a welcome ceremony for Xi at Dushanbe's airport, where more than 1,500 young Tajiks dressed in national costumes performed Chinese and Tajik songs and dances.

Xi has previously visited Tajikistan in 2014 and 2019.