决策者 | 阿中友谊历久弥新

Editor's note: Decision Makers is a global platform for decision makers to share their insights on events shaping today's world. Akram Zeynalli is the ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the People's Republic of China. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN. 

编者按：《决策者》是全球决策制定者分享对国际大事见解的平台。阿克拉姆·杰纳利（Akram Zeynalli）是阿塞拜疆共和国驻华大使。作者观点不代表CGTN立场。

The long-established and rich history of relations between Chinese and Azerbaijani people dates back to the ancient Silk Road. Our peoples maintained trade and cultural ties through the ancient Silk Road as early as 2,500 years ago. A description of a beautiful Chinese lady in the poem called "The Seven Beauties" written by the greatest Azerbaijani poet Nizami Ganjavi in the 12th century is also evidence of long-standing cultural ties between our peoples. It is gratifying to see that the bilateral relations between our countries have been developing successfully since Azerbaijan regained its independence in 1991.

阿塞拜疆同中国的关系源远流长，可追溯到古丝绸之路时代。两国人民早在2500年前就已经通过丝绸之路建立了贸易和文化联系。12世纪，阿塞拜疆最杰出的诗人尼扎米·甘贾维在其诗作《七美人》中就曾描写过一位美丽的中国女子，这也证明了两国人民间的文化交流历史悠久。可喜的是，自从1991年阿塞拜疆恢复独立以来，阿中关系的发展愈加成熟。

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Azerbaijan and China. Azerbaijan attaches special importance to bilateral ties with China and is interested in deepening and broadening these relations in all spheres. At present, the ties are characterized as multidimensional partnership relations based on friendship and mutual trust, with high growth dynamics. 

今年是阿中建交30周年。阿塞拜疆特别重视同中国的双边关系，并愿意在各领域进一步深化和扩大双边合作。当前，以传统友谊和相互信任为基础的两国多维度伙伴关系发展势头强劲。 

It has to be noted that the mutual trust, dedicated political dialogue and friendship between President Xi Jinping and President Ilham Aliyev play an important role also in developing bilateral economic and trade ties. Currently, more than 190 Chinese companies are registered in Azerbaijan. So far, China has invested almost more than $900 million in the economy of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan, in its turn, has invested more than $1.7 billion in the Chinese economy. Big Chinese companies in the field of information and communications technology, such as Huawei and ZTE, are operating successfully in Azerbaijan, and it is worth noting that the regional office of Huawei is located in Baku, capital of the Eurasian country. It is also very important to mention the role of Azerbaijan-China Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation in enhancing dialogue for economic cooperation, establishing close contacts between the businesses from both sides and solving the problems faced by companies in each country. The eighth meeting of the commission was held online in October 2021, where tangible results were achieved and concrete goals were determined for future cooperation.  

习近平主席和伊利哈姆·阿利耶夫总统之间的相互信任、全心的政治对话和友好情谊也为两国经贸关系的发展发挥了重要作用。目前，在阿注册的中国企业超过190家。迄今为止，中国对阿投资逾9亿美元，阿塞拜疆累计对华投资逾17亿美元。华为、中兴等中国大型信息与通信技术企业在阿塞拜疆成功运营。特别值得一提的是，华为的区域办事处就设在阿塞拜疆首都巴库。此外，阿塞拜疆-中国政府间经贸合作委员会在加强两国经济合作对话、建立两国企业间密切联系及解决两国企业面临的问题方面也发挥了非常重要的作用。该委员会第八次会议于2021年10月通过线上方式举行，会议取得了切实成果，确定了双方未来合作的具体目标。

Azerbaijan is China's main trading partner in the South Caucasus and we are committed to improving our trade relations further. In this respect, it is worth mentioning that Azerbaijan has always been represented at the China International Import Expo with a great pavilion, a substantial number of companies and a large delegation comprised of high-level government officials ever since the first expo was held. Even during the last expo in November 2021, we set up a significantly big pavilion and showcased food and agricultural products of Azerbaijan, despite the fact that many other countries failed to participate due to the pandemic. We opened Azerbaijan Trade Houses in the Chinese cities of Qingdao, Luzhou, Zhangjiajie and Lianyungang, as well as Azerbaijan Wine Houses in Shanghai and Urumqi. Negotiations on opening new trade and wine houses in other regions of China are being held with relevant authorities, so that we can have further access to more Chinese customers soon. 

阿塞拜疆是中国在南高加索地区的主要贸易伙伴，我们致力于进一步促进两国的贸易关系。在这方面，值得一提的是，自首届中国国际进口博览会举办以来，阿塞拜疆一直是中国国际进口博览会的主要参展方，大批企业和由政府高层官员组成的大型代表团参加了展会。在2021年11月召开的上一届博览会中，有许多国家因疫情原因未能参加，但我们仍设立了大型展厅，展示了阿塞拜疆的食品和农产品。我们在青岛、泸州、张家界和连云港设立了阿塞拜疆国家品牌馆，并在上海和乌鲁木齐开设了阿塞拜疆葡萄酒中心。目前，我们正与有关部门就在中国其他地区开设国家品牌馆和葡萄酒中心进行协商，以期接触到更多中国客户。

Undoubtedly, Azerbaijan is keen on improving its trade relations with China and we strongly believe that we will be able to achieve more positive results in terms of trade between our countries in the near future.

毫无疑问，阿塞拜疆非常希望进一步提升与中国的贸易关系，我们坚信，在不久的将来，两国双边贸易能够取得更多积极成果。

Azerbaijan was one of the very first supporters of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and as a testimony to our aspirations to jointly implement this initiative, Azerbaijan has substantially invested in infrastructure projects both in the country and in the region in order to become a regional transit and logistics hub as a country located at the crossroads of Asia and Europe. 

阿塞拜疆是“一带一路”倡议最早的支持者之一。作为落实“一带一路”倡议这一宏伟愿景的见证，阿塞拜疆大举投资国内乃至区域内的基础设施建设项目，利用阿位于欧亚大陆交界处的地理位置，以期发展成为“一带一路”区域运输及物流中心。

Developing into a very crucial country along the BRI, Azerbaijan now offers better options for efficient and economically viable transportation of goods from China to Europe and vice versa. In this sense, Azerbaijan has initiated the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route and carried out several important infrastructure projects such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, Baku International Sea Trade Port and Alyat Free Economic Zone. Several block trains from Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, have already passed through Azerbaijan on their way to Europe and this route is becoming more and more active as our economic cooperation enhances. Furthermore, there are direct passenger flights between Baku and the Chinese cities of Beijing and Urumqi, as well as direct cargo flights between Baku and Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tianjin and Zhengzhou, which makes Azerbaijan even more attractive for Chinese companies to do business.

阿塞拜疆已经发展成为 “一带一路”沿线的一个重要国家，正在为中欧提供更加优化的双向货运渠道，既保证效率又兼顾经济效益。例如，我们发起了跨里海国际运输路线建设项目，并实施了包括巴库-第比利斯-卡尔斯铁路、巴库国际海运贸易港口和阿里亚特自由经济区在内的若干重要基础设施建设项目。数列由西安始发的中欧班列途径阿塞拜疆。随着阿中两国经济合作的加深，这一线路也变得愈发繁忙。此外，巴库与北京和乌鲁木齐之间的直航客运航班以及与上海、香港、天津和郑州间的直航货运航班使得阿塞拜疆对中国企业更具吸引力。

Today, there are huge opportunities for Chinese companies to invest and work in Azerbaijan. It is worth noting that currently, the government of Azerbaijan is working on projects to revive Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur economic regions. In this sense, we will actively cooperate with Chinese friends and businesses that are interested in getting involved in this restoration process and in realization of new infrastructure projects in these regions. 

如今，中国企业在阿塞拜疆投资兴业的机会巨大。值得一提的是，阿塞拜疆政府目前正致力于促进卡拉巴赫和赞格祖尔地区的经济恢复。因此，我们愿与有兴趣参与这一复兴计划并在这些区域开展基础设施建设项目的中国朋友和企业展开积极合作。

As one of such promising projects, the Zangazur corridor will connect the mainland of Azerbaijan to its landlocked exclave – Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Transiting directly across the Caucasus, the new Zangazur corridor will significantly cut road transportation time from China to Europe and vice versa, complementing the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and facilitating trade and business. Clearly, this new corridor will play an important role in terms of connectivity along the BRI route and bring about further opportunities for China and Azerbaijan to expand cooperation in transportation and logistics.

作为有着良好发展前景的项目之一，赞格祖尔走廊——连接阿塞拜疆本土与其飞地纳希切万自治共和国——横跨高加索地区，能够大大缩短中欧间的陆路运输时间，与巴库-第比利斯-卡尔斯铁路形成互补，促进贸易和商业往来。显然，这条新的走廊将在促进“一带一路”沿线国家互联互通方面发挥重要作用，并为阿中两国扩大运输及物流领域合作提供更多机遇。

The economic and political dimensions apart, no opportunity is spared to bring our peoples closer. We used every platform and opportunity offered by China in order to present rich Azerbaijani culture and its tourism potential to our Chinese friends and thus contributed to rapprochement of our peoples. 

除了深化经济和政治领域的合作之外，我们也积极推动两国人民之间的民心相通。我们充分利用中国提供的一切平台和机会，向中国朋友展示阿塞拜疆丰富的文化及旅游资源，以期促进两国人民的友好关系。

The local governments of cities and districts of Azerbaijan also work closely with the local governments of regions and provinces of China to enhance economic cooperation and reach win-win results. In view of this, we have established friendly and mutually advantageous relations between several cities of China and Azerbaijan, signed documents on sister-city relationships and will continue to make every effort to further initiate and promote such good practices. 

阿塞拜疆各市、区政府也与中国各级地方政府密切配合，加强经济合作，实现互利共赢。鉴于此，阿塞拜疆和中国的若干城市间建立了互惠互利的友好关系，并签署了缔结友好城市关系的文件。我们将一如既往地全力推动此类良好实践。

Undoubtedly, China's sustainable, solid and robust economic growth creates vast opportunities for other countries to actively cooperate with China and reap the benefits of successful partnership. Azerbaijan stands ready to work with China to profit from mutually beneficial cooperation. 

毫无疑问，中国经济持续、稳健和强劲的增长将为其他国家带来巨大机遇，使这些国家能够在同中国展开的积极合作与成功的伙伴关系中获益。阿塞拜疆愿同中国一道，从互利合作中受益。

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