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 172nd out of 180 countries).
Armenia-China
SCO
China is actively supporting Armenia’s formal application to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Chinese Ambassador to Armenia Li Xingwei stated on July 31.
Defense cooperation
On July 30, First Deputy Minister of Defense and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Armenia, Lieutenant General Edward Asryan, said that cooperation between Armenia and China, including between their defense ministries, was successfully developing across various sectors, particularly in recent years.
“We highly value the main goal of China’s foreign policy – to safeguard global peace,” he said at the Chinese Embassy event marking the 98th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
Armenpress reported that “in the field of military science, close ties have been established between the Academy of Military Sciences of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the Vazgen Sargsyan Military University of the Armenian Ministry of Defense and the Armenian National Defense Research University“.
Crossroads of Peace
On July 16, Armenian Minister of Economy Gevorg Papoyan received the newly appointed Ambassador of China to Armenia Li Xinwei.
“We have all the necessary prerequisites for the further expansion and deepening of economic ties. Armenia is open to Chinese investment,” Papoyan said.
The discussion also focused on the Armenian government’s Crossroads of Peace project, which “could become an important platform for regional and large-scale economic cooperation.”
Li noted that Armenia had great potential to increase its presence in the Chinese market.
Azerbaijan-China
Military cooperation
Speaking at an event marking the 98th anniversary of the founding of China’s People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese military attaché to Azerbaijan, Colonel Sun Zhong, discussed military cooperation between China and Azerbaijan: “We have carried out a range of practical and effective activities in areas including high-level exchanges, military-technical cooperation and the training and education of military personnel. This cooperation has not only enhanced the professional standards of our servicemen but also deepened mutual understanding and trust between the armed forces of China and Azerbaijan”.
Huawei
On August 5, News.az reported that Azerbaijani students who won Huawei’s “Seeds for the Future” program would participate in a summer camp in China.
At the farewell ceremony, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Minister of Digital Development and Transport Samir Mammadov proposed establishing a joint Training Center in Azerbaijan in collaboration with Huawei.
Middle Corridor
On August 7, China Railway Container Transport Corp. Ltd, a subsidiary of China Railway, joined the joint venture of the Middle Corridor Multimodal Ltd, primarily launched to advance strategic cooperation among the railway administrations of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan.
Other
On July 14, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov met with the Chinese Ambassador Lu Mei.
Reportedly they discussed prospects for joint initiatives in trade, industry, investment, energy, transport and the digital economy.
Georgia-China
Visits & meetings
- On July 25, the Georgian Dream’s parliamentary delegation visited China and held multisectoral meetings with the Chinese Communist Party, the National People’s Congress, the Ministry of Education’s Centre for Language Education and Cooperation, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the municipal government of Shenzhen and leading technology corporations. Among the main goals of the visit were the consolidation of interparty mechanisms and the multisectoral development of the China-Georgia strategic partnership in the fields of education, agriculture, and economic cooperation.
The delegation included GD Parliament Deputy Speaker Giorgi Volski, Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Nikoloz Samkharadze, Education Committee Chair Mariam Lashkhi, Economic Policy Committee Chair Shota Berekashvili and Agrarian Committee Chair Gela Samkharauli.
- On August 6, Irakli Kobakhidze met with the Ambassador of China to Georgia Zhou Qian, where “particular attention was given to the further strengthening of trade and economic ties“.
- On July 21, Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Bin held the political consultation between the ministries of foreign affairs of China and Georgia with the Georgian Dream Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Khvtisiashvili in Beijing.
Khvtisiashvili said that Georgia will continue to adhere to the One‑China principle, actively participate in high‑quality Belt and Road cooperation, expand exchanges and cooperation between the two countries in areas such as economy, trade and connectivity, and strengthen coordination in international affairs.
GD officials at the Chinese Embassy PLA event
On July 28, the Chinese Embassy in Georgia held a reception for the 98th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army. Numerous Georgian Dream officials attended the event.
Georgian Dream representative Giorgi Volski stated that Georgia adhered to the One-China principle and would promote the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative with the Middle Corridor concept.
Georgia’s Deputy Commander of the Defense Forces Irakli Tchichinadze said that China and Georgia had mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation and their continuously improving relations would bring more benefits to the peoples of both countries.
Regarding the WWII, Zhou said that the Chinese and Georgian peoples had jointly made “an important contribution to the cause of justice for humanity”.
CIPS
- On July 17, the President of the National Bank of Georgia Natia Turnava held a meeting with the President of the China Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS) Fu Huang.
The parties discussed opportunities for cooperation between the National Bank and CIPS and issues related to facilitating access to the CIPS global network for the country’s financial institutions.
- According to the National Bank of Georgia July 18 statement, cooperation with China’s CIPS is important for Georgia, “as it creates new opportunities for banks connected to the system to improve the efficiency of transactions for companies engaged in trade between Georgia and China”. The statement noted that “CIPS is not an alternative to SWIFT”.
Global Civilization Initiative
The two-day Global Civilization Dialogue Ministerial Meeting concluded where more than 600 guests from approximately 140 countries and regions gathered “to jointly discuss the path of mutual learning among civilizations and to talk together about a future of peaceful development”, Chinese state-run China Daily reported on July 14.
Reportedly, the Chairman of the Culture Committee of the Georgian Dream Parliament Giorgi Gabunia stated that China, by building a platform for dialogue among civilizations and promoting mutual learning, has made important contributions to the development and progress of human civilization.
According to Imedi TV, he also spoke about China as a country with an ancient civilization, unique culture and traditions, which “has reached the highest level of development in all areas”.
Targeting the US congressman on China issue
On July 30, a member of the Georgian Dream proxy People’s Power party David Kartvelishvili criticised Congressman Joe Wilson’s statement regarding Georgian Dream’s relations to communist China.
He also insulted the congressman: “Joe Wilson may be acting like an insane person, the same type of dementia that his local protégé had. He is seriously losing control and claims that $1,000 is no longer sufficient to cover his treatment for every such nonsense and that the fee should be increased. However, there is also another possibility – that he is simply a genuine idiot.”
He claimed that Communist China has become quite the role model for Brussels this year. His another argument was that in “June 2025, Donald Trump had a phone conversation with the president of Communist China”.
Chinese vehicles
According to the first six months of the year statistics, the highest number of electric vehicles imported this year came from the United States (2,665 units – USD 38.875 million) and China (423 units – USD 9.642 million).