The Chinese Embassy in Armenia organized Thursday a reception on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of China.
Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan, Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan, other members of the Government, MPs, media representatives attended the reception.
Welcoming the guests, Chinese ambassador to Armenia Tian Erlong, thanked for attending the event.
For 70 years, the Chinese Communist Party has consistently maintained the mission of building happiness for the Chinese people, giving rebirth to the Chinese nation, uniting and leading every nation, overcoming many obstacles, persistently and courageously moving forward, giving a new life to the 5000-year-old Chinese people, the ambassador noted adding that China’s GDP exceeds $ 13.6 trillion, GDP per capita increased from $ 70 to $ 9732 per capita. From 1979 to 2018, GDP grew at an average annual rate of 9.4 percent, which is 2.9 percent higher than the average annual growth of the world economy, and the average rate of investment has grown by 30 percent in recent years.
The ambassador underlined that China is today the largest trading partner of more than 120 countries and regions, has signed Belt and Road Initiative with 136 countries and 30 international organizations. Referring to the relations with Armenia, Erlong noted that although there is a territorial difference between the two countries, the relations still start from the Silk Road.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, the two countries have maintained the principles of mutual respect, equal treatment and mutually beneficial cooperation, and bilateral friendly cooperation has developed in a healthy and sustainable manner, he said adding that in recent years, Armenian-Chinese relations have entered a new phase of rapid development within the Belt and Road Initiative.
According to him, the high level relations of the two countries are the key, the political mutual trust is constantly and firmly established.
China has been Armenia's second largest trading partner for many years, and the volume of trade between Armenia and China is 10% of the total volume, he said adding that as of July, the Armenian-Chinese trade volume reached $ 500 million, growing by 22.6% year-on-year.
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary, the Chinese Embassy has published a collection of articles by seven media outlets who visited China in July, including NEWS.am.
