Caspian Energy (CE): Your Excellency, we have noted that shortly after you took up your post, China and Azerbaijan established a comprehensive strategic partnership. Over the past year and more, bilateral relations have continued to strengthen significantly. In your view, what should be the priority areas for further advancing this relationship? What has impressed you most since taking office?
Lu Mei, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Azerbaijan: From April 22 to 24, 2025, President Ilham Aliyev paid a state visit to China, during which he and President Xi Jinping jointly announced the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Azerbaijan, opening a new chapter in the history of bilateral relations. I had the great honor of arriving in Baku on April 14 last year to take up my post and, shortly thereafter, witnessing President Aliyev’s important visit to China. Looking back at the development of China-Azerbaijan relations in recent years, the close personal guidance and strategic leadership of President Xi Jinping and President Ilham Aliyev have always been the greatest strength and fundamental guarantee for the high-quality development of bilateral relations. Guided by the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, the two countries are now maintaining close exchanges across various fields and at different levels, continuously deepening political mutual trust, tapping the potential for cooperation, and fostering closer bonds between the two peoples. China-Azerbaijan comprehensive strategic partnership has entered a new stage of high-quality and all-round development.
First, bilateral exchanges have become increasingly frequent. In 2025, following his state visit to China in April, President Aliyev traveled to China again from August 30 to September 3 to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin and the commemorative events marking the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Last year also saw successive visits to China by high-level Azerbaijani officials, including the Deputy Prime Minister, Deputy Speaker of the Milli Majlis, Assistant to the President, Minister of Energy, Minister of Health, and Minister of Science and Education. The number of high-level visits and delegations between the two countries reached a record high. Since the beginning of 2026, the momentum of close high-level exchanges has continued. Foreign Affairs Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova have visited China in succession, engaging in in-depth exchanges with their Chinese counterparts on bilateral relations and cooperation between the two legislative bodies. In May this year, Zhang Guoqing, President Xi Jinping’s Special Representative, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Vice Premier of the State Council, made a special trip to Azerbaijan to attend the Leaders’ Summit of the 13th World Urban Forum, during which he also met with President Aliyev. Looking ahead, the two sides are expected to maintain an even more intensive schedule of exchanges.
Second, political mutual trust has continued to deepen. President Aliyev has made it clear that Azerbaijan supports all efforts made by the Chinese government to achieve national reunification. The Azerbaijani side has repeatedly reaffirmed publicly its commitment to the one-China principle and condemned separatist activities seeking “Taiwan independence.” China, for its part, will continue to firmly support Azerbaijan in pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions and in safeguarding its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. President Xi Jinping’s vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity and the four major global initiatives contribute to world peace, stability, and prosperity, and that Azerbaijan highly appreciates and actively supports them. As members of the Global South, China and Azerbaijan maintain effective communication and coordination within multilateral frameworks including the United Nations, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA). Together, we uphold genuine multilateralism and safeguard international fairness and justice.
Third, practical cooperation has yielded fruitful results. China and Azerbaijan have fully leveraged the unique advantages arising from the complementarity of their economic structures and the convergence of their approaches to cooperation. With high-quality Belt and Road cooperation as the main framework, the two sides have deepened practical cooperation across a wide range of fields, enabling Chinese high-quality productive capacity and Azerbaijan’s development needs to meet each other in a mutually beneficial way. Last year, bilateral trade reached US$4.87 billion, setting a new record for the third consecutive year and maintaining rapid growth. At the beginning of this year, China became Azerbaijan’s third-largest trading partner for the first time, while bilateral trade has continued to grow. Following the introduction of mutual visa exemption, people-to-people exchanges between the two countries have become even closer, tourism cooperation continues to demonstrate considerable potential, and exchanges at the local, scientific and technological, educational, and think-tank levels have become increasingly vibrant.
Since taking up my post in Azerbaijan more than a year ago, I have had extensive exchanges with people from all walks of life and visited many parts of the country. I have been deeply impressed by the enduring friendship between China and Azerbaijan, which has been passed down from generation to generation and grown stronger with time. This year marks the beginning of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan period, while China-Azerbaijan relations are also entering their 35th year. Looking ahead, the China-Azerbaijan comprehensive strategic partnership has a bright future and enormous potential. China stands ready to work with Azerbaijan to follow the important consensus reached by our two heads of state, carry forward our longstanding tradition of mutual support and friendship, seize the broad opportunities presented by modernization and development, and make greater contributions to the continued advancement of China-Azerbaijan relations.
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