Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov met with Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Yi on the sidelines of his working visit to the People’s Republic of China

Welcoming Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi expressed his satisfaction with the development of relations between the two countries. Wang Yi conveyed his congratulations on the occasion of signing the Memorandum granting the Republic of Azerbaijan the status of Dialogue Partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and reiterated his country’s satisfaction to see Azerbaijan in the family of Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Minister Elmar Mammadyarov kindly reminding the visit of H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan to China on 8-11th of December, 2015, particularly noted that this visit gave an impetus to the development of cooperation between the two countries bringing it to a new level.

Mentioning the closeness of Azerbaijan and China’s positions toward the international issues, Elmar Mammadyarov stressed that both countries support one another’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of their internationally recognized borders. Elmar Mammadyarov added that this position has been reiterated in the “Joint Declaration on the Expansion and Deepening of Friendly Relations and Cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the People's Republic of China” signed by the Presidents of both countries during the visit of H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan to China.

Touching upon the development of bilateral economic relations, Elmar Mammadyarov noted in this regard the important role of the joint intergovernmental commission. Expressing Azerbaijan’s support to the Silk Road Economic Belt initiative of China, Elmar Mammadyarov highlighted that our country is an important part of the “East-West” and “North-South” transport corridors. Noting that the test container trains departed from China successfully reached the final destination along this route, he added that these possibilities will further be increased once Baku-Tbilisi-Kars rail road gets fully operational.

Informing his counterpart about the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Minister Elmar Mammadyarov emphasized that this conflict is the main threat for the regional peace and security.

Wang Yi sharing his counterpart’s views on enhancing the relations between the two countries added that China gives high importance to the development of the transport corridors and stands ready for further advancing the cooperation with Azerbaijan in all fields. He also emphasized the importance of the cooperation of both countries within the international organizations.

At the meeting, the sides exchanged their views on regional and global issues of mutual interest