Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan today received the delegation led by Deputy Minister of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China Zhang Kemin, as reported the press service of the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction with the high level of the Armenian-Chinese cooperation and the bilateral willingness to deepen that cooperation, evidence of which are the high-level reciprocal visits that have become more frequent recently. The head of government stated that China is a friendly country and key partner for Armenia and that the trade and economic relations are growing dynamically, adding that the trade turnover has increased significantly in both countries over the past few years. In this context, the Prime Minister attached importance to the activities of the Armenian-Chinese Joint Inter-Governmental Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation, the ninth session of which was held today in Yerevan (Zhang Kemin is the co-chair of the Chinese party to the Armenian-Chinese Joint Inter-Governmental Commission).

The Chinese Deputy Minister of Commerce transmitted the warm greetings of Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang and stated that Armenia and China are not only good friends, but also reliable partners and that the existing stable political dialogue provides the opportunity to raise the level of partnership to a new level. Zhang Kemin stated that the Armenian-Chinese trade and economic relations are growing effectively and that there is great potential for the strengthening and future deepening of those relations. The Chinese Deputy Minister of Commerce presented the results of the 9^th session of the Armenian-Chinese Joint inter-Governmental Commission, adding that the Commission had discussed and indicated the future steps for implementing the agreements that the leaderships of both countries have reached in order to deepen cooperation in several sectors.

The interlocutors expressed satisfaction with the process of implementation of the joint programs in the spheres of road construction, agriculture, tourism, education and other sectors and discussed issues on the deepening of partnership in the above mentioned sectors, as well as in the mining industry, the energy sector, food industry and the development of transport infrastructures of regional significance. The sides also touched upon cooperation within the Eurasian Economic Union. Mr. Kemin attached importance to Armenia’s role in the development of China-EEU relations. In response, Hovik Abrahamyan stated that Armenia welcomes and is ready to support that process. According to the Prime Minister, China is a key partner for Armenia, and the Armenian government welcomes the engagement of large-scale Chinese investments in Armenian economy. Hovik Abrahamyan transmitted his warm greetings to Prime Minister of China Li Keqiang.