China will be among our key partners in our part to revival: Ambassador Vahe Gevorgyan's interveiw to Chinese state television

Armenian Ambassador to China Vahe Gevorgyan gave an interview to the Chinese state television network CGTN.

The Ambassador discussed the centuries-old history and ancient civilizations of the two countries, as well as their cooperation and future plans. 

The full interview, issued by the Armenian Embassy in China, is presented below:

CGTN: His Excellency, Mr. Ambassador, thank you so much for joining us today. This is your second year as Armenia Ambassador to China, but you previously worked in China over 20 years ago. What significant changes have you observed in the country since then?

Ambassador Gevorgyan: Indeed, more than 20 years ago, I worked in China. This was my first diplomatic assignment. Of course, changes are very visible.  They are of generational nature. More than 20 years ago China was a country who was trying to catch up with developed countries.  Now, China is a leading country, and it is leading world development in many areas, technologies. So, from catching up to leading forward.

CGTN: In 2024, the bilateral trade between China and Armenia reached $2.8 billion, a 34.4% increase from the previous year. China has become Armenia's third largest trading partner. What do you think is the main driving force behind this rapid growth?

Ambassador Gevorgyan: I believe there are two important elements behind this rapid development. First of all, our economies are expanding, Both Armenia and China registered very significant growth of their economies last year.  

Second, our relationship is growing. We managed to expand export and import in both directions, which means that we are having good conversation, good dialogue, and our businesses can work together and to achieve very impressive results.

CGTN: Last year, the first direct flight from China to Armenia was launched. How do you value its significance in terms of enhancing exchange and cooperation between the two countries?

Ambassador Gevorgyan: This was a great news of 2024. We managed to open first direct flight between Armenia and China.

This is good news for tourist flows, because it's easier now to go to Armenia and to go to China. But it's also aside from tourism promotion. It makes more possibilities for people to people contacts. Of course, we have on line trade, and it is growing between our two countries. But first of all, business is a good things are done by people who talk to each other, who understand each other. And in this sense, direct flights will bring more business contacts, more interaction between our societies, between our people.

CGTN: As China's annual political season, the Two Sessions, is approaching, what are your expectations for this year?  And which topics are you most interested in?

Ambassador Gevorgyan: Of course two sessions provide excellent insight to the intentions, plans and actions of Chinese government. And of course, we are interested to know about new plans in economy, in governance, in domestic and international policies.

For me, as a foreign diplomat, the most interesting would be for me to see how China evaluates current international politics.

There were very interesting transformations in recent months. And in this sense, it's very, very important how China assess those transformations. China always came up with very, very clear visions about development of international relations, about a multipolar world. When this is becoming a reality, how China will frame its position in international arena, and what would be Chinese vision for international politics in coming years, in coming year? This is the most interesting topic for me, during these sessions.

CGTN: The term "new quality productive forces", a new buzzword has emerged in China's economic discourse, proposed by President Xi. It emphasizes the importance of high technology, high efficiency, and high-quality development, among other factors. What do you think is the significance of this paradigm shift?

Ambassador Gevorgyan: I should say that China went into great transformation, particularly on two important elements: infrastructure and human capital development. I believe when we speak about new technologies, we predominantly speak about people who create new technologies. In this sense, the development of human capital that we see in China, development of “new quality (productive) forces” is very impressive.

And at a certain stage, it's clear that they will reshape new labor relations, new society, and they will reshape new country, in this sense, emphasis on development of human capital development of those who create to drive new technology is very important. And I see it's more human centric rather than technology centric approach here.

CGTN: I saw a video online a few weeks ago where you were learning how to cook Peking duck. It looks very interesting! Do you enjoy Chinese food and the traditional culture?

Ambassador Gevorgyan: Of course, I have a great passion for Chinese cuisine and I'm not alone in this world there. There are millions of people who share this passion. There are many features of Chinese cuisine on which we can speak endlessly.

First of all, it really expands boundaries of taste to infinity. But there is one feature that I appreciate very much. Chinese food plays a role of cultural guide. It's a cultural guide to tradition to history of China. There are so many signature dishes. There are so many legends behind those signature dishes. And the dish that you mentioned is one of them.  So learning about Chinese cuisine is about learning China, is learning about Chinese history and Chinese culture.

I believe many countries they have their own soft power. In Chinese case, this is a Chinese food is a delicious power of China.

CGTN: Just like China, Armenia is a country with a long history and ancient civilization, known as the land of churches and the cradle of wine. So how would you introduce Armenia to our international audience?

Ambassador Gevorgyan: We are proud to be first nation who adopted Christianity in the 4th century, before Rome. We are also very proud of our wine.  We have privilege to test wine made of endemic grapes, which are 6,000 years old. And the first winery in the world was discovered in Armenia, oldest winery in the world was discovered in Armenia.

But first of all, Armenia’s story is story of survival. Maybe we did not manage to create great empires, golden civilizations, but at least we managed to survive. We managed to survive all those attempts to create such kind of great empires. But survival itself is not the end in itself. I believe that today Armenia is a land of revival. In this sense, the Chinese example of rejuvenation of an ancient civilization is very inspiring for us. And we believe that China will be among our key partners in our part to revival. I would add to all these definitions that you said, one more - and that is Armenia is a land of revival.