Chinese FM holds talks with Azerbaijani counterpart

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Azerbaijani Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov in Beijing on Wednesday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that the establishment of the China-Azerbaijan comprehensive strategic partnership has led bilateral relations into a new stage of high-quality, comprehensive development.

He called on both sides to maintain exchange at all levels, deepen their sharing of governance experience, promote people-to-people and cultural exchange, and enhance mutual understanding between the two peoples.

Wang said the two countries should strengthen the alignment of their development strategies, and use high-quality Belt and Road cooperation as a guide to explore further areas of converging interest and foster new cooperation growth points.

As the world has entered a period of turbulence and transformation, China and Azerbaijan, both as Global South countries, should join hands to practice true multilateralism, uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core, and promote the establishment of a more just and equitable global governance system, Wang said.

China highly commends the work Azerbaijan has done since it assumed the presidency of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), and stands ready to support Azerbaijan in hosting the CICA summit this year, Wang said.

For his part, Bayramov said that the elevation of bilateral relations last year has added strong momentum to the strategic cooperation between the two countries. Azerbaijan supports the four major global initiatives put forward by China and is willing to join the Group of Friends of Global Governance, he added.

Reiterating Azerbaijan's firm adherence to the one-China principle, Bayramov said the Azerbaijani side is ready to maintain close, high-level exchange with China, enhance inter-party communication, and expand cooperation on the economy, trade, investment, connectivity, education, tourism, science and technology between the two countries.

He also pledged to deepen coordination with China within multilateral frameworks, advance Azerbaijan-China relations further, and make greater contributions to regional peace and prosperity.