Ambassador: China, Azerbaijan have advantage in implementing OBOR initiative

By Trend

China and Azerbaijan have their own advantage in implementing the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative, Chinese Ambassador to Azerbaijan Guo Min said in an exclusive interview with Trend Oct. 23.

“Chinese-Azerbaijani relations of friendship and cooperation are rapidly developing in a healthy and stable way, they have broad prospects for bilateral cooperation in the joint development of the OBOR initiative,” the ambassador said. “China attaches great importance to the development of relations with Azerbaijan. Since the beginning of this year, two countries have been stepping up exchange of visits at a high level, political mutual trust is constantly deepening, cooperation in trade, economic, energy, transport and humanitarian spheres gives fruitful results.”

The ambassador reminded that in April this year, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited China to participate in the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) in Beijing, where the leaders of the two states reached an important consensus on further development of bilateral relations and business cooperation in various fields.

Guo Min further noted that from January through August 2019, the volume of trade between China and Azerbaijan reached $1.5 billion, which is 104 percent more compared to the same period last year.

“In recent years, bilateral interaction has been steadily advancing in the fields of education, culture, healthcare, sports, tourism etc., mutual understanding and friendly contacts between the peoples of the two countries are constantly deepening,” the ambassador said.

Guo Min noted that Azerbaijan fully supports the OBOR initiative and is actively involved in it.

“This initiative goes well with Azerbaijan’s national development strategy, thanks to which bilateral practical cooperation in trade, economic, transport, energy and other fields is constantly bearing fruit,” the ambassador added.

“China and Azerbaijan have their own advantage in the joint construction of the OBOR, high level of complementarity and broad prospects for cooperation,” Guo Min said. “In the future, the parties should continue to develop the potential of cooperation, make discoveries and act innovatively, focusing on the important points of intersection of the interests of both sides.”

The diplomat noted that China intends to develop, together with Azerbaijan, political coordination, interconnection of infrastructure, uninterrupted trade, free movement of capital and proximity between peoples, to make efforts to help bring bilateral friendship and cooperation to a new level for the benefit of both countries and peoples.