Following my state visit to the People’s Republic of China last year and the signing of the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership, there has been a very significant intensification of our cooperation across all areas.
elchi reports that President Ilham Aliyev stated this at the 4th Shusha Global Media Forum.
“Following my state visit to the People’s Republic of China last year and the signing of the Joint Declaration on Strategic Partnership, there has been a very significant intensification of our cooperation across all areas. This covers political, economic, transport, and all other spheres. We are very pleased with this and attach great importance to this cooperation. Currently, more Chinese companies are operating in Azerbaijan. Some of them are already implementing large investment projects, while others are participating in various infrastructure projects,” the head of state said.
President Ilham Aliyev recalled that during his state visit, he held meetings with the heads of China’s leading companies: “I am pleased to note that their activities in Azerbaijan are already yielding real results. They work extremely efficiently, promptly, and with high quality. We have also opened a new direction of our cooperation. This is cooperation in the defense sector. Azerbaijan has already acquired certain military products from China. Some of them were demonstrated at the military parade dedicated to the fifth anniversary of our Victory. Another part is currently being brought to our country, and some projects are still in the discussion stage. We are very interested in the development of military-technical cooperation.
As for the Middle Corridor, the volume of cargo transported from China through Azerbaijan, as well as cargo destined for Azerbaijan, continues to increase. As I have already mentioned, we are almost doubling the capacity of our trade port, taking into account the new cargo flows expected mainly from China and Central Asian countries. A successful experience of cooperation has already been formed in this area. At the same time, multilateral cooperation with many countries located along the corridor is also developing successfully. Numerous projects are being implemented in Azerbaijan in the direction of solar energy development. Although Chinese companies started investing in this area relatively recently, all solar panels installed in our country, even those used within the framework of projects implemented by non-Chinese companies, are of Chinese production. That is, any solar panel you see in Azerbaijan, regardless of which company installed it, was produced in China. In this area, no other country can compete with Chinese manufacturers in terms of price and quality. It is no coincidence that one of the Chinese companies is currently building a solar panel manufacturing plant in Azerbaijan. This enterprise will also produce goods for export in the future.”
According to President Ilham Aliyev, one of the important events in bilateral cooperation in recent times is the joint production project of electric buses with the BYD company: “It is possible to see this in the city now. We have buses in two colors – green electric buses and traditional red buses. The more green buses there are, the better. Thus, many cooperation projects are being implemented. We are very satisfied with the development of our relations. Another point that pleases us is that the transition from political decisions adopted at the level of heads of state to the implementation of concrete projects happens in a very short time. This feature distinguishes Chinese companies from many other partners in a positive sense. With some companies, it is necessary to negotiate for months or even years, and then the process of implementing projects also drags on. With Chinese companies, all work proceeds according to a precise schedule. Both I and all government agencies responsible for cooperation with Chinese companies are very satisfied with this cooperation.”