Author: Medea Ivaniadze
The digest covers China’s political, diplomatic, economic and other activities in the South Caucasus region and relations between China and the South Caucasus countries. It relies on a wide variety of sources, including the Chinese media. It is worth noting that the Chinese media is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (according to the World Press Freedom Index China is nearly at the bottom of the list and ranks 175th out of 180 countries)
- Chinese MFA targets the 2003 Rose Revolution in Georgia
- Finish company launches freight train from China via Azerbaijan and Georgia
- Armenia’s trade with China grew in the first quarter of 2022
- Azerbaijan and Austria sign a MOU for uninterrupted rail freight traffic from Europe to China
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Omitted news from May 6
Armenia’s trade with China increased in January-April
In the first quarter of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, Armenia’s trade with China increased by 39.3% to $312.7 million, Massispost reported on May 6.
According to the National Statistical Committee of Armenia, the imports from China grew by 73.5% to $156 million.
9.05.2022 – 15.05.2022
Finnish company launches freight train from China via Azerbaijan and Georgia
A photo from the website: “Congratulations on the successful launch of the China-Europe line (Yu’Xin’Ou Railway/Chongqing–Xinjiang–Europe Railway), the South corridor striding into ‘two seas'”. Source: Nurminen Logistics
On the new southern Trans-Caspian route, the first full-length container train the largest Finnish freight operator Nurminen Logistics departed on May 10 from Chongqing, China, Nurminen Logistics reported.
The route starts in China and runs via Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Romania to Central Europe.
The statement said that transport time from China to Central Europe was approximately three times faster than sea freight. Weekly departures are scheduled to begin in June.
Chinese MFA continues discussing the Rose Revolution in Georgia
On May 9, China’s Foreign Ministry’s speaker Zhao Lijian discussed the 2003 democratic revolution in Georgia, and claimed that the US had undermined democracy there.
“The US has long used democracy as a tool and a weapon to undermine democracy in the name of democracy, to incite division and confrontation, and to meddle in other countries’ internal affairs, causing catastrophic consequences. NED, as one of the US government’s main ‘foot soldiers’ and ‘white gloves’, has subverted lawful governments and cultivated pro-US puppet forces under the pretext of promoting democracy. NED was seen behind color revolutions instigated and orchestrated by the US, including the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Rose Revolution in Georgia, the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and the Arab Spring,” Zhao Lijian answered the question about the Chinese MFA’s recent statement about the NED (National Endowment for Democracy).
Azerbaijan and Austria sign a MOU for uninterrupted rail freight traffic from Europe to China
A subsidiary of Azerbaijan Railways, ADY Container and The Austrian Federal Railways’ (ÖB) Rail Cargo Group have signed a memorandum of understanding to ensure uninterrupted rail freight traffic from Europe to Central Asia and China either via Turkey and the Kars – Tbilisi – Baku railway, or the Romanian port of Constanta and the Georgian port of Poti, International Railway Journal reported on May 11.
Reportedly, ADY Container, together with Georgia’s GR Logistics, Azerbaijani Caspian Shipping Company and Kazakhstan’s KTZ Express, will launch a container service across the Black Sea between Poti and Constanta as part of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route. It said that the train ferry will have capacity for two freight trains per trip.
According to the report, the two signatories discussed increasing joint efforts to make better use of the Trans-Caspian route following the Russian invasion of Ukraine to increase the volume of intermodal rail freight between Europe, Central Asia and China.