Chinese Ambassador to Georgia Zhou Qian emphasized China’s interest in the infrastructure projects of the “Middle Corridor”, in particular, the country’s readiness to participate in the Anaklia deep sea port project. He spoke about China-Georgia relations and the importance of the “Belt and Road Initiative” and the “Middle Corridor” region while talking to journalists after the conference in Tbilisi organized on September 6 by the Chinese Embassy and think-tanks GSAC and Geocase.
“Generally speaking, we, Chinese companies and Chinese enterprises have interests in all infrastructure projects, the “Belt and Road” and “the Middle Corridor”. If conditions are good, Chinese companies have no problem to participate in the construction of Anaklia Port or other projects,” – Zhou Qian stated.
Responding to concerns that Georgia’s close ties with China could pose a threat to its EU aspirations, Ambassador Zhou Qian emphasized the independence of both China and Georgia in choosing their strategic partners. He also pointed out that the EU and China have their own strategic partnership and noted that without their cooperation the Middle Corridor project will not succeed: “I have information that the EU is very active in the Middle Corridor, and I think this is another important platform for China-EU cooperation. This is not a problem for Georgia, maybe on the contrary,” – he noted.
Regarding the significance of diversifying logistics opportunities between China and Europe, the Ambassador stated that the Middle Corridor assumes a critical role in China-Europe logistics. The Ambassador Qian also noted that the Middle Corridor encompasses more than just logistics: “The Middle Corridor is not only about logistics, we also want to benefit from tourism. As we say in China, if you want to get rich, build roads first. That is why the Middle Corridor is important for Georgia’s future prosperity.”
In addition, the Ambassador was asked about why the China-Georgia strategic partnership document didn’t mention the occupied territories of Georgia, to which the Ambassador stressed China’s principled stance on supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all nations, underlining its significance in Chinese policy. “I think this is a deliberately wrong approach to the document. We support the territorial integrity of Georgia, and this has been reaffirmed in many documents between the two governments before.” – Zhou Qian stated.
Source: civil.ge
