The Chinese Embassy in Armenia on Thursday held a reception to mark the 77th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Chinese Ambassador to Armenia Li Xinwei delivered an address at the event and stated as follows, in particular:

“Last year, President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of the Republic of Armenia jointly announced the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two countries, which gave new impetus to the deepening of cooperation between the parties in all domains. The Armenian side adheres to the ‘One China’ principle, and the Chinese side supports Armenia's independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. High-level contacts between the [two] parties are increasingly close.

This year, President Xi Jinping, along with the [other] heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization [(SCO)], including Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, attended the SCO Bishkek Summit. The Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, the Minister of Environment, and the Minister of Defense paid successive visits to China. The delegation of the National People’s Congress of China visited Armenia. Also, the Chinese side will send a high-level delegation to participate in relevant events of 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP17) [to be held in Yerevan in October].

Practical cooperation [between Armenia and China] has achieved new results. China is Armenia’s second largest trading partner. In the first half of this year, the amount of bilateral trade between the two countries exceeded 1.4 billion US dollars, an increase of 22.9% year-on-year. The assistance program for the construction of a new pavilion for the Public Television of Armenia is progressing successfully.

Currently, the number of flights on the Yerevan-Urumqi route has increased to six times a week, which has made mutual visits between citizens of the two countries even more convenient. We [i.e. China] are glad to see that Chinese tourists are visiting Armenia to discover its rich historical and cultural heritage. At the same time, we cordially invite our Armenian friends to visit China more often, travel around the country, and get to know it better.

Recently, a new parliament was elected and a new government was formed in Armenia, and the 35th anniversary of Armenia’s independence was celebrated. Once again, I congratulate on these events. We are ready to continue to promote cooperation in all domains, give new impetus to bilateral relations, and jointly build a more beautiful future, together with the new government and parliament of Armenia, as well as friends from various circles of Armenian society.