“The Communist Party of China has won the Chinese people’s trust since its inception by defying numerous challenges and leading the country along the path of sovereignty, empowerment and socio-economic development,” Pashinian said in a congratulatory message to Chinese President Xi Jinping sent on Thursday.
“The achievements of the CPC continued and multiplied under your leadership,” he wrote amid official celebrations of the jubilee held in Beijing.
“Armenia is eager to further develop the friendly relations and ongoing mutually beneficial cooperation with the People’s Republic of China. I am confident that the Armenian-Chinese relations will continue to strengthen and deepen for the benefit of our two countries and peoples,” added Pashinian.
China -- Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in Beijing, May 14, 2019.
Former Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian also congratulated Xi on the occasion. He noted the Chinese Communist Party’s “deep and comprehensive partnership” with his Republican Party of Armenia.
Both the current and former Armenian governments have maintained a cordial relationship with Beijing and sought to cement it with closer commercial ties. Xi called for “joint efforts to elevate our multifaceted cooperation to a new level” in a September 2020 letter to President Armen Sarkissian.
China solidified last year its position as Armenia’s second largest trading partner after Russia. According to official statistics, Chinese-Armenian trade rose by 2 percent to $965 million on the back of an almost 50 percent surge in Armenian exports to China totaling $290 million.
China thus accounted for 13.6 percent of Armenia’s foreign trade, compared with Russia’s 30.3 percent share in the total.