China ready to enhance cooperation with Armenia to advance Silk Road project

ARKA, Armenia
Nov 21 2018

YEREVAN, November 21. /ARKA/. China is ready to enhance cooperation with Armenia in the context of joint promotion of the Silk Road project, China’s Ambassador  to Armenia Tian Erlong told reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of an international  conference in Yerevan, marking  the 40th anniversary of China’s policy of reforms and opening, launched in 1978 by China’s then Communist leader Deng Xiaoping.

He said China looks at Armenia as a friendly country in the region backed by historical ties. According to the ambassador, now the relations between the two  countries are very good and the cooperation potential is very large and therefore, in the context of joint promotion of the Silk Road project, Beijing sees great opportunities for cooperation with Armenia, for example, in the construction sector, infrastructure improvements, IT and high technology.

He said the revival of the Silk Road project implies, first of all, establishment of mutual interconnection between  Europe and Asia to enhance integration trends. The ambassador noted also that the priority sectors of cooperation are transport, energy and telecommunications.

"Armenia is a landlocked country. This is why  this is an urgent issue. China is now the country with the largest scale of infrastructure construction, and we can offer our assistance," Erlong said.

The ambassador stressed that China is the second largest economy in the world and  the number one trading partner for more than 130 countries. 

The conference, organized by the Chinese Embassy in Armenia and the Noravank Research Foundation, was attended by members of the government, the parliament, representatives of some embassies, as well as by experts from Armenia and other countries. –0–

Emil Lazarian

“I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS