Nikol Pashinyan Meets with Xi Jinping

A meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Chinese President Xi Jinping took place in Tianjin. The President of the People's Republic of China welcomed the Prime Minister's visit and his participation in the SCO summit in the SCO+ format. Xi Jinping emphasized the longstanding friendship between the two countries and noted that bilateral cooperation is experiencing stable development.

He stressed that China unconditionally supports the political independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of Armenia. At the same time, President Xi highlighted China's support for the Armenian government's "Peaceful Crossroads" initiative and the unblocking of regional communication routes. He welcomed the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Regarding the prospects for the development of bilateral relations, he underscored the importance of the active functioning of the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation with Armenia, emphasizing that it should fully reveal the potential of bilateral economic cooperation and take consistent steps to realize it.

Pashinyan expressed gratitude for the warm hospitality. He added that the high level of political dialogue established between the two countries is also reflected in mutual support on issues of importance to each other. According to the Prime Minister, Armenia reaffirms its support for the "One China" principle.

The leader of Armenia emphasized the implementation of the "Peaceful Crossroads" program developed by the Armenian government, directed at enhancing both regional and inter-regional stability and integration, noting that it could best be linked to China’s "Belt and Road" initiative, to which Armenia was one of the first to officially join.

The Prime Minister believes that the high-level bilateral relations will be further developed and strengthened as a result of today’s meeting. He expressed hope that the level of trade and economic cooperation will steadily increase and new joint investment projects will be implemented. The country’s leader highlighted that the Armenian government is interested in expanding investment projects by Chinese companies in Armenia.

As a result of the meeting, the parties announced that a strategic partnership is being established between Armenia and China, and a joint declaration was adopted. During the meeting, the leaders of both countries emphasized the importance of promoting cooperation in science, education, culture, tourism, information, metrology, and other areas.

Nikol Pashinyan reaffirmed Armenia's desire to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). An agreement was reached to deepen cooperation within the framework of the SCO.