On 14 May, Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan went to Beijing to participate in the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations. Pashinyan announced before his departure that the “visit is a good occasion to give a new impetus to the Armenian-Chinese relations”.

At the conference, Pashinyan met with the Chinese president Xi Jinping. At the meeting Xi Jinping expressed confidence that the bilateral cooperation in the areas of trade, industry, transport and culture will develop soon between Armenia and China. Xi also assured Pashinyan that China would participate in major infrastructure projects in Armenia such as the ongoing reconstruction of the country’s highways stretching from Iran to Georgia, where a Chinese company is already carrying out highway upgrades in the northwestern Shirak region.

He also added that his country “will continue to support projects that will contribute to Armenia’s development and enhance the well-being of the Armenian people.” “We are united by the common goals of cooperation of civilizations. We are well aware of momentous events in the history of Armenia. We believe that tragic events that befell the Armenian people in the past must be prevented in the future”, Xi said.

Chinese-Armenian relations had been established since Armenia gained its independence in 1991. Chinese aid to Armenia has totaled at least $50 million since 2012. In addition, the Chinese government has spent over $12 million on building and equipping a school in Yerevan, where hundreds of Armenian children study the Chinese language. China is also Armenia’s second largest trading partner. According to official Armenian statistics, Chinese-Armenian trade soared by increasing over 29 percent in 2018, to $771 million. Exports of Chinese goods to Armenia accounted for 86 percent of that figure.

According to Ruben Safrastyan, the director of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia, China pursued other interests as well besides giving aid assurances to Armenia. China is in particular interested in Armenia’s foreign policy, especially in regards to Turkey and its other neighbors. This is due to an interest of China towards Turkey, since the latter, to a certain extent, is one of the main competitors of China in the international market. In addition, the Chinese are also interested in the experience of Armenian experts in the Middle East, since Beijing does not have such rich experience of interaction with this region.