China's ambassador to Georgia, Zhou Qian, said that China is interested in infrastructure projects in the "Middle Corridor" countries and named the deep-water port of Anaklia among them. Speaking to journalists after the conference organized by the Chinese Embassy in Tbilisi on September 6, he emphasized the importance of the "Belt and Road Initiative" and the "Middle Corridor" region.

"Generally speaking, we, Chinese companies and Chinese enterprises, have interests in all infrastructure projects, "Belt and Road" and "Middle Corridor". If we have good conditions, Chinese companies have no problem to get involved in the construction of the port of Anaklia or other projects", Zhou Qian Tsien said.

Regarding concerns that Georgia's close ties with China could threaten its European aspirations, the Chinese ambassador emphasized that both China and Georgia are independent in choosing strategic partners. He also noted that the European Union and China have a strategic partnership and added that the "Middle Corridor" would not be successful without this cooperation. "I have information that the European Union is very active in the Middle Corridor, and I think that this is another important platform for China-EU cooperation. This is not a problem for Georgia, maybe on the contrary", the ambassador said.

Regarding the diversification of logistics opportunities between China and Europe, the ambassador said that the "Middle Corridor" is important for China-Europe logistics. According to him, the Middle Corridor is not just about logistics. "We want to benefit from tourism as well. As we say in China, if you want to get rich, build roads first. So, the Middle Corridor is important for the future prosperity of Georgia," the ambassador said.

When asked why the occupied regions are not mentioned in the strategic partnership document between the two countries, he replied that China supports all countries' sovereignty and territorial integrity and that this is the most important principle in Chinese policy. "I think this is a deliberately wrong approach to the document. We support the territorial integrity of Georgia, and this has been reiterated in many documents between the two governments before," the Chinese ambassador added.