Azerbaijan, Baku, Sept. 4 / Trend , U.Sadikhova/
China supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, urges the parties to follow the relevant resolutions from the UN Security Council and is for a peaceful solution to the conflict with the support of the international community, said Zhang Yannian, the Chinese Ambassador to Azerbaijan.
"China supports Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty in the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict [...],as Azerbaijan supports China's territorial integrity and sovereignty, does not hold any official meetings with Taiwan and recognizes China's common and legitimate government," the ambassador said at the Center for Strategic Studies in the presence of the Azerbaijani President on Sept. 4.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts. Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
The relations between China and Azerbaijan are developing rapidly, the ambassador said. The countries support each other in important issues, and China provides assistance to Azerbaijan for rapid entry into the WTO, he added.
"There is growing business cooperation between our countries and over the past year the trade turnover between the two countries totaled $800 million," the diplomat said. "Furthermore, there are 15 large Chinese enterprises in Azerbaijan, with a total investment of 500 million dollars," he said.
According to the ambassador, currently there is no problem for mutually beneficial cooperation.