MFA Deputy Minister: Large-scale construction of China`s diplomatic representation in Armenia must be viewed in the context of China`s growing interest in Armenia and the whole region
ArmInfo. The construction of new Chinese Embassy in Armenia, which will become the second largest in the Eurasian region - after Russia, is a sign of increasing interest of China in the South Caucasus region. This opinion was expressed by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Shavarsh Kocharyan in an interview with journalists on August 10 after the meeting of the government.
According to Armenian MFA Deputy Minister, such large-scale construction of diplomatic representation must be considered in the context of the growing interest of China towards Armenia and the whole region. "To say that China is a strong state, perhaps, to say nothing, on the other hand, it is obviously the desire of this country to further intensify the policy in the region," Shavarsh Kocharyan stressed.
The day before, laying of the foundation of new building of Chinese Embassy in Armenia was held in Yerevan. During the ceremony, Ambassador Tian Erlong said that China intends to expand its presence in Armenia. "Our cooperation is developing rather quickly, it requires great efforts and large areas," the ambassador said. In turn, Assistant Foreign Minister of China Li Huilai noted that the existing building of the Chinese Embassy in Armenia has been in use since the beginning of the 1990s, and today it can no longer satisfy the needs of the dynamic development of bilateral relations between states. "The new premises of the Chinese embassy with an area of about 40,000 square meters will become one of the largest embassies in Armenia, which fully demonstrates the desire of the Chinese and Armenian sides to develop broader and all-round cooperation with each other," Huilai said.
The construction of the new embassy will be completed in 2 years, the construction work will be carried out by Chinese and Armenian specialists. Before the ceremony, at the meeting with the Assistant Foreign Minister of China Edward Nalbandian noted that Armenia regards relations with China as one of the imperatives of foreign policy.