Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with visiting Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who attended the opening ceremony of the 31st summer edition of the FISU World University Games, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, July 31, 2023. Photo: Xinhua
Zheng Shanjie, head of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the top economic planner, and Levan Davitashvili, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, signed a cooperation deal on Monday to jointly build the Belt and Road between the two countries.
The document, signed in the presence of the Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, is an important milestone that will inject new impetus into bilateral ties, which clarified key areas and content of cooperation between China and Georgia to jointly build the Belt and Road.
The cooperation deal follows the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and sharing benefits. It adheres to the concepts of openness, greenness, and integrity, and aims for high standards, sustainability, and improving people's livelihoods.
The plan clarifies that the two sides will strengthen cooperation in areas such as policy communication, infrastructure connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration, and people-to-people exchanges.
The agreement is of great significance in deepening political mutual trust and development strategy between China and Georgia, and is conducive to deepening cooperation between the two countries in various fields, according to the NDRC.
The plan will create new opportunities for cooperation between China and Georgia, add new impetus to common development, and better benefit the two countries and their peoples, the NDRC said.
Based on mutually beneficial cooperation, ten years on, the cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has shored up connectivity for global prosperity. Georgia is one of the first countries in the world to actively respond to the initiative, according to media reports.
During the meeting with his Georgian counterpart in Beijing on Monday, the Chinese premier pointed out that both sides should prioritize the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Both sides should make good use of mechanisms such as the Inter-Governmental Committee on Economic and Trade Cooperation, fully unleash the benefits of the China-Georgian Free Trade Agreement, strengthen cooperation in cross-border e-commerce, infrastructure construction, economic zones, industrial parks, and other emerging areas, Li said.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Georgia, bilateral economic and trade cooperation has advanced steadily. Bilateral trade increased from $3.68 million in 1992 to $1.4 billion in 2022. China has been Georgia's largest export market and third largest trading partner for a number of years.
In January 2018, the China-Georgia Free Trade Agreement came into effect, with Georgia becoming the first country in Eurasian to sign a free trade agreement with China.
Global Times
