New Silk Road - Chinese-Azerbaijani vision

The global geopolitical situation and the situation in the world economy are developing in such a way that it is difficult for one country, even the most economically powerful one, to do without allies and reliable strategic partners. For a long time, China's economic expansion and the growth of Chinese goods exports to foreign markets clearly outpaced the geopolitical advancement of China's interests in various regions of the world. Having surpassed the former world leader - the United States - in many economic parameters, China was inferior to them in terms of the presence of allies, "its own" political and military-political blocs, and in the sphere of the existence of its own economic influence zones. Such a position turns out to be vulnerable. Without reliable logistical routes of access to foreign markets, without reliable allies in various regions of the world, without its own cultural and ideological influence, relying only on the export of goods makes China's position vulnerable.
On the other hand, China's geopolitical leadership as an "alternative" to the geopolitical dictate of the United States and the West is in demand in the world as never before. Moreover, many states from the "Western" camp, including EU members, are ready to build mutually beneficial relations with the PRC. However, countries that see the PRC as a potential geopolitical reference point need positive examples of how cooperation with China helps a country in its progressive economic development and in defending its geopolitical interests. There are plenty of examples of how cooperation with the US and Western countries has resulted in disappointment and losses for small states, and sometimes even catastrophe. There are plenty of those "cheated and abandoned" by the West in various historical circumstances - from the "pro-American" authorities of Afghanistan to those who placed excessive hopes on France and the US, such as Armenia. On the contrary, countries that today establish close and friendly relations with China and receive only benefits from this can become beacons for states that are geographically and culturally close to them in various regions of the world.
Currently, China, which is in fact the world's industrial leader and "world workshop," is faced with such realities as the tough protectionist policy of the new US administration. The introduction of high tariffs by the US on goods from other countries, primarily China, is forcing China to reconsider its economic strategies and pay more attention to more geographically "close" markets, as well as change its priorities in logistics.
In conditions where the naval forces of Western countries maintain dominance in the world's oceans, maritime trade communications may be vulnerable, especially since they have such "bottlenecks" as the Red Sea or the Suez Canal. At the same time, by land, the optimal route giving China access to the markets of European and Mediterranean countries is the Middle Corridor, passing through the states of Central Asia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia. Here the key country, whose cooperation with China can significantly change the geopolitical alignment in the world and become an example for other countries in the region, is Azerbaijan. It should be noted that Azerbaijan, being a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, pursues a balanced policy of defending national interests in relations with other leading geopolitical players. From 2019-2023, Azerbaijan chaired the Non-Aligned Movement, which is the second largest international organization after the UN.
As President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev noted in an interview with the Xinhua News Agency, being part of the Global South, Azerbaijan has always defended its interests. Today, the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, which together form the Global South, make up almost two-thirds of the UN member states. They account for about 80% of the world's population, about 50% of the world's GDP, and about half of the total volume of international trade.
Azerbaijan also opposes neocolonialism and the last remnants of colonial empires, which have brought untold disasters to the countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Also, in 2016, Azerbaijan became a partner country of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) for dialogue and is an important member of the SCO family. It was during the Astana SCO summit that Azerbaijan and China established a strategic partnership. China is one of the founding countries of the SCO and, as the SCO chair in 2024-2025, will host the 25th meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the SCO member states in 2025. In developing relations with Azerbaijan, China does not go "contrary" to any geopolitical alliances associated with the West or Russia. This is very important, since many post-Soviet states, which are also actively developing economic relations with China, are members of such geopolitical blocs as the CSTO (Belarus, Armenia, a number of Central Asian countries) or NATO (the Baltic countries). The example of Armenia, which is "flirting" with NATO while being a member of the CSTO, from which it either leaves or does not leave, does not lead to anything other than destabilization of the South Caucasus region.
Azerbaijan, like no other post-Soviet state, closely cooperates with one of China's key allies, Pakistan, the fourth most populous country in Eurasia. The importance of China's cooperation with Pakistan in Eurasia will increase even more given that the West is trying to sow discord between the countries of the continent, relying on India. Cooperation between China and Azerbaijan will also objectively prevent external destructive forces, from Europe and the United States, from trying to organize tensions and conflicts in such a key region as the South Caucasus.
Economic relations between China and Azerbaijan are developing dynamically. In 2024, the volume of trade between Azerbaijan and China increased by 20.7% compared to the previous year and amounted to 3.744 billion US dollars. China became the 4th largest trading partner of Azerbaijan, whose share in the country's foreign trade turnover was 7.9%, and the leader in imports, which amounted to 17.69%.
As President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev noted in an interview with Xinhua, today 375 companies with Chinese capital are registered in Azerbaijan, of which 298 are actively operating in the country. Currently, negotiations are underway between Azerbaijan and China on the prospects for joint cooperation in the non-oil sector, in particular in the field of attracting direct investment aimed at high technology and innovation, alternative and renewable energy.
In his interview with Xinhua, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev also spoke about the role of Azerbaijan in the global Chinese geo-economic project "One Belt - One Road". According to Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan is one of the first countries to support the "Belt and Road" initiative put forward by the Chairman of the PRC. Azerbaijan is the second country after China to have invested the largest amount in the implementation of this project, both on its territory and abroad.
Azerbaijan is expanding cooperation with China within the framework of the "Belt and Road" initiative. Taking advantage of its advantageous geographical location, Azerbaijan continues to actively develop international transport corridors, create modern infrastructure, and invest additional funds to increase their capacity due to the sharp increase in cargo traffic through the country.
According to President Ilham Aliyev, over the past 20 years, 21 thousand kilometers of roads have been built and repaired in Azerbaijan, along with 335 bridges and overpasses, 45 tunnels, and 163 overland and underground crossings. Much work has been done to improve the railway infrastructure, with more than 1,500 kilometers of railways built and 1,800 kilometers repaired.
Today, important transport projects such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, the International North-South Transport Corridor, and the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (Middle Corridor), as well as the Baku International Sea Trade Port, which is one of the major ports in the Caspian Sea, open up new prospects for the implementation of economic and transport opportunities within the framework of the Belt and Road initiative. Currently, the Middle Corridor is a reliable and safe route connecting Europe with Central Asia and China via the Caspian Sea, and is also the most optimal for delivering goods from China to Europe and vice versa. Its importance is rapidly growing.
The volume of transit traffic between Azerbaijan and China in 2024 amounted to 378 thousand tons, which is 86% more than in 2023. In 2024, 287 block trains were sent from China to Azerbaijan in import and transit mode along the Middle Corridor.
The role of the Middle Corridor and Azerbaijan, as a key country of this transit route, will further increase after the deep-water port in Anaklia is built in Georgia on the Black Sea coast. Thanks to this port, a significant part of the commodity flows that today go from China to the countries of Europe and the Mediterranean, skirting Eurasia and through the Suez Canal or even skirting Africa, can be directly redirected to the Atlantic basin through this port, which will significantly reduce the delivery time of goods and make this route reliable and safe.
The issue of the operation of the port of Anaklia in the future is closely related to the reliability of the ferry crossings across the Caspian Sea and the transit of goods through Azerbaijan. If we also take into account that the most important branch of the international North-South transport corridor connecting Europe with the Indian Ocean will pass through the territory of Azerbaijan, then cooperation between China and Azerbaijan becomes key in the entire economic and geopolitical architecture of Eurasia.
Rizvan Huseynov

SR-CENTER.INFO