The head of the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, Hikmat Hajiyev, gave an interview to the Newspaper China Daily about the perspectives of the bilateral cooperation between Azerbaijan-China, reports trend.az.  

"Bilateral relations of the two countries, from high-level political dialogue, economic and trade cooperation, to energy, education, culture and the humanitarian sphere are developing," noted Hajiyev. A special mention was given to the participation of the Azerbaijani delegation at the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai. "This kind of expo is extremely important, and provides a chance for Azerbaijan to reach out to the Chinese market and establish contacts with Chinese companies". At this moment, Azerbaijani and Chinese companies are working on projects in the petrochemical industry with the consideration to expand their cooperation in areas such as energy and communication.

Of major importance is the project to restore the Silk Road. "The  One Belt and  One Road Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping in 2013 has touched the hearts of the Azerbaijani people, as the restoration of the ancient Silk Road is for the benefit of the entire world, and the development and prosperity of all countries." The plan is to link all of the countries that have historically been included in the Silk Road to the initiative. Azerbaijan is already taking efforts in this regard with the construction of land road-, railway-, seaport- and airport networks, stated Hajiyev.

"15,000 kilometers of land roads have been built in the past couple of years, and the country also constructed one of the biggest seaports in the Caspian Sea", Hajiyev said, adding that all of these projects are important pillars of the ancient Silk Road. Another example is the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which became operational on October 2017 and links Azerbaijan to Turkey and thus enables a connection between China and Europe as well as Central Asia. "It works as a major exporter and middle corridor under the Belt and Road Initiative, and Azerbaijan is also working on the East-West line and North-South Line, linking the railway systems of Iran and Russia”.

According to Hajiyev, there are areas of economic cooperation which still have a lot of room for improvement. "Data from 2018 shows 15,000 Chinese tourists visited Azerbaijan last year, which is not enough of course, and we aim to do more to attract more visitors in the coming years." Another important aspect is the promotion of student exchanges between the two countries as “they can play the role of a humanitarian bridge between our countries”, concluded Hajiyev.