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) 

  • Georgia’s Agriculture Minister and Chinese Ambassador emphasize the importance of the two countries’ close cooperation
  • Azerbaijan interested in stretching the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway line to Azerbaijan through Turkmenistan, says Kyrgyzstan Ambassador
  • Yerevan State University representatives and the Chinese Ambassador discuss cooperation

 

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Georgia’s Agriculture Minister met with the Chinese Ambassador

A photo from the meeting. Source: The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia

 

The Georgian Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture Otar Shamugia met with the Ambassador of Zhou Qian. During the meeting the two emphasized the importance of close cooperation between the two countries, the Ministry reported on February 2.

Reportedly, the Minister said that Georgia-China free trade agreement was an important opportunity for Georgia to strengthen trade relations with China.

He noted that with the involvement of the National Food Agency, they were striving to exploit export opportunities for various products and would appreciate the Chinese government’s support in this process.

The Chinese market is one of the most attractive markets for Georgian wine exports. Even though the wine exports declined during the Covid-19 pandemic, we still have vast export potential and intend to get into it to the greatest extent possible,” Shamugia added.

The Minister expressed his willingness to personally participate in the opening of international exhibitions in Guangzhou and Shanghai in 2023 to popularize Georgian wine. 

 

Azerbaijan interested in stretching the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway line to Azerbaijan through Turkmenistan, says Kyrgyzstan Ambassador

According to February 2 APA report, the Ambassador of the Kyrgyz Republic to Azerbaijan, Kairat Osmonaliev said that in order to attract a large number of transit cargoes to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line, “the Azerbaijani side expressed interest in sending the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project (line) to Azerbaijan through Turkmenistan”.

 

Yerevan State University representatives and the Chinese Ambassador discuss cooperation

A photo from the meeting. Source: The Chinese Embassy in Armenia

 

On February 1, the Chinese Ambassador to Armenia, Fan Yong, met with the Yerevan State University Rector, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, and the Professor, Gagik Gurzadyan.

According to the Embassy report, the two sides exchanged views on pushing forward and strengthening educational cooperation between the two countries as well as exchanges and cooperation between the universities of China and Armenia.

 

Confucius Institute representatives attended a student conference on China at the Georgian Technical University

A photo from the conference. Source: ჩინეთის კვლევითი ინსტიტუტი/Facebook

 

On January 30, a scientific student conference was held within the framework of the Georgian Technical University’s Faculty of Law and International Relations Russian-language undergraduate program project “China’s Foreign Policy”, a Facebook account of the Chinese Research Institute reported.

The Chinese Director of the Confucius Institute at the Alte University, Professor Wengang Zhang, and the Chinese professors attended the event. Reportedly, the head of the Chinese Research Institute, professor Avtandil Kiknadze, informed the Chinese guests about the institute’s activities and plans as well as cooperation issues with “leading Chinese universities”.