Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has underscored the deepening of economic ties with China, with an aim to leverage the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partnership to forge itself into an economic hub in the region.
China has become Azerbaijan's top import source and fourth-largest trade partner, with bilateral trade surging 43 percent year-on-year in 2024 to 2.46 billion U.S. dollars, according to China’s General Administration of Customs.
The two countries elevated their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership on Wednesday, signaling stronger cooperation amid global economic uncertainties.
In an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on the same day, Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan, which hosts one of the world's largest cargo airlines, aims to leverage the BRI cooperation to develop transit routes into commercial opportunities so as to develop itself an economic hub at the pivot of various transportation corridors.
"China is the No. 1 partner on import and No. 4 partner on trade turnover. And we opened six Azerbaijani trade houses in China, ready to start to export wine to China. We want to have more share on your market. And with respect to the Belt and Road, for us, this initiative is not only a kind of a transit route. We want to build businesses on route, because our geographical location is at an advantage. We are situated on east-west and north-south transportation corridors. And with respect to connectivity, we built already all infrastructures, railroads, seaports, highways, eight international airports. We have one of the biggest on global scale of air cargo company. So our target is to build business on route. And of course, we count on Chinese companies. Less than a week ago at the business forum, there have been different companies from both countries, and they signed investment agreements to Azerbaijan worth more than 300 million (U.S.) dollars. I said today to my colleagues that for us it's a good number, but I think it can be bigger," the president said.
At the recent China-Azerbaijan Industrial and Investment Cooperation Promotion Conference held in Beijing, Azerbaijan signed agreements on 13 projects with Chinese institutions and enterprises, covering areas such as the digital economy, aluminum capacity expansion, and the establishment of agricultural machinery production sites.
Aliyev also highlighted Azerbaijan’s business-friendly tax policies, skilled workforce, and incentives for foreign investors, while introducing plans to expand cooperation in manufacturing, renewables, and transportation. "I want to talk about billions, and I think this is absolutely realistic. So now our target is renewables, transportation and manufacturing. So we have a skillful labor force, we have a growing population, growing market, so doing business in Azerbaijan from point of view of taxes and different legal requirements is very easy. (There are) a lot of incentives. So I think that we just need to bring sides together, and to convey more information about business opportunities of Azerbaijan to Chinese entrepreneurs," Aliyev said.
Azerbaijan aims to leverage BRI partnership to forge itself into regional economic hub: president
