Chinese premier meets Azerbaijani president in Beijing

Chinese Premier Li Qiang met with visiting Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Beijing on Wednesday. Li said China and Azerbaijan are good friends of sincere mutual trust and good partners pursuing mutual benefit on an equal footing.

He said President Xi Jinping held talks with President Aliyev on Wednesday morning when the two presidents announced the establishment of comprehensive strategic partnership, which opens up a new chapter for the development of bilateral relations.

China is willing to strengthen the alignment of Belt and Road cooperation with Azerbaijan’s development strategy, deepen exchanges and cooperation in connectivity, green energy, digital economy, trade, and culture, said the Chinese premier.

Both sides should maintain close communication and coordination in multilateral affairs and safeguard their common interests, Li said.

Aliyev said Azerbaijan is firmly committed to the one-China principle.

Azerbaijan looks forward to maintaining high-level exchanges with China, expanding mutually beneficial cooperation in economy and trade, transportation, energy, and agriculture, strengthening multilateral communication and coordination, and enriching the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, he said.

The central parity rate of the Chinese currency renminbi, or the yuan, strengthened 20 pips to 7.0108 against the U.S. dollar Monday, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

In China's spot foreign exchange market, the yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 2 percent from the central parity rate each trading day.

The central parity rate of the yuan against the U.S. dollar is based on a weighted average of prices offered by market makers before the opening of the interbank market each business day.