YEREVAN, JUNE 7, ARMENPRESS. Armenia’s Ambassador to China H.E. Sergey Manasaryan briefed President Sargsyan on June 7 regarding the Armenian-Chinese relations agenda and especially its economic component, ongoing bilateral program and achievements, as well as targeted directions of further development of partnership.

The consultation was attended by Chief of Staff of the President’s Office Armen Gevorgyan, minister of economic development and investments Suren Karayan, minister of education and science Levon Mkrtchyan, deputy foreign ministers Armen Papikyan and Robert Harutyunyan and other officials of the President’s Office.

Speaing about the economic component, the Armenian President emphasized that the priority of Armenian diplomatic representations abroad has always been and continues to be spreading Armenia’s economic opportunities in those countries – especially among investors, and of course, as well as the ongoing works aimed at protecting Armenia’s economic interests.

The President inquired from Ambassador Manasaryan on the process of the implementation of the Armenian-Chinese high level agreements, cooperation programs in various sectors, and in what sectors Chinese businessmen are mostly interested in investing in Armenia, what should Armenia’s participation be like in the One belt One Road program and what works has the Armenian Embassy in China implemented since Manasaryan’s term in office.

Speaking about the Armenian-Chinese relations and emphasizing that Armenia is highlighting the deeply rooted traditionally warm and friendly relations with China, the President noted what since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the Armenian-Chinese relations have developed positively and upwards.

“It is obvious that we greatly value our political and economic relations with China: by only taking into account that in terms of volumes we have the second largest commercial turnover with China, it proves a lot. Of course, we must actively work in this direction. The indicator, although being rather high for our economy, nevertheless I think the potential is greater.

“We have comprehensively discussed boosting our economic and political relations with the Chinese President, during my official visit to the country. We comprehensively touched upon the activation of our economic relations with Mr. Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang. We have also discussed these issues with high ranking Chinese delegations in Armenia in 2016.

I am hopeful that all agreements will be realized, and naturally, I know that these agreements are currently in process.

Last year, the inauguration of established an advanced Chinese language school was held in Yerevan.
The construction of this school is planned to be completed until autumn of the next year. I attach great importance to this, because knowledge of language is an important fact not only for keeping political relations warm, but also, of course for enhancing economic relations.

We have always had the assistance of the Chinese government: technical support for our country, which of course is very good, however today, the enhancement of business and economic ties with brotherly China is not less important for us.

For us, of course, Chinese President Xi Jingpin’s One belt One Road program is of great interest, and we must definitely have involvement in realizing this program.

Chinese companies are already participating in the construction of the North-South Road, but we must also definitely view their participation in terms of state-private sector cooperation also. And I don’t rule out that the interest of Chinese companies of building one part of the road on their own resources can be very realistic, and for us, this will be attraction of those investments.

I also value our relations with China in the tourism sector, where this country has great potential. And the fact that we facilitated the visa process for Chinese citizens will significantly contribute to boosting partnership in this sector”, President Sargsyan said at the beginning of the meeting.

Upon listening to Ambassador Manasaryan’s report and the reports of the other officials present, President Sargsyan charged the officials with focusing efforts on expanding both volumes and range of Armenian products with prospects and export potential in the Chinese market, as well undertake works aimed at realizing joint investment programs in Armenia’s mutually beneficial various sectors.