Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang paid a visit to Azerbaijan from Tuesday to Wednesday on invitation, and met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and held talks with Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev in Baku, the capital city of Azerbaijan.
When meeting with President Aliyev, Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, first conveyed cordial greetings and best wishes from Chinese President Xi Jinping.
During their meeting in Astana in July, Xi and Aliyev jointly announced the elevation of China-Azerbaijan relations to the level of strategic partnership, Ding said, noting both sides have implemented the important consensus reached by the two heads of state and pushed for continuous development of China-Azerbaijan relations at a new starting point and at a high level.
China is willing to work with Azerbaijan in the spirit of sincerity, mutual trust, equality, and mutual benefit to strengthen political guidance, deepen comprehensive cooperation, so as to achieve their respective development and revitalization goals, he added.
Ding also extended China’s congratulations on Azerbaijan's successful hosting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Baku and expressed China's readiness to work with Azerbaijan to implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, so as to promote peace, stability, development and prosperity of the world, as well as building a community with a shared future for mankind.
For his part, Aliyev asked Ding to convey his sincere greetings to Xi, emphasizing that Azerbaijan and China are true strategic partners.
Azerbaijan supports the major initiatives proposed by Xi, and is willing to actively collaborate with China on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), so as to elevate the bilateral relations to a new level, he said.
Azerbaijan is willing to strengthen international cooperation with China, support multilateralism, and advance fairness and justice in the international community, he added.
When holding talks with Mustafayev, Ding said that both China and Azerbaijan should implement the key consensus reached by the two leaders, firmly support each other on issues concerning their core interests.
Ding expressed China's willingness to enrich the strategic partnership with more practical cooperation outcomes, to bring more benefits to the two peoples.
China seeks to strengthen trade and investment cooperation, share development opportunities and enable more high-quality Azerbaijani products to enter the Chinese market, and supports Chinese companies to invest and develop in Azerbaijan, Ding said.
He called on the two countries to strengthen energy cooperation and jointly promote the development of clean energy.
China strengthens connectivity to ensure the safe, stable and smooth operation of China-Europe freight trains, and works with Azerbaijan and other countries along the route to build the trans-Caspian international transportation corridor, Ding said.
Ding called for enhancing cooperation in culture, education, science, tourism and other areas, promoting mutual understanding between the peoples.
Mustafayev said that Azerbaijan firmly adheres to the one-China principle and believes the Chinese people will achieve national reunification.
He said Azerbaijan admires China's impressive and substantial progress, and is willing to push for greater development of bilateral relations by further aligning development strategies with China, and deepening bilateral practical cooperation in various areas.
Chinese vice premier visits Azerbaijan on invitation
Chinese vice premier visits Azerbaijan on invitation
