Azerbaijani leader: China has a special place among priorities

China has a special place among priorities, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Beijing, Report informs.

The head of state, while answering the presenter's question about Azerbaijan's National Leader, Heydar Aliyev, noted, “You're absolutely right. He played an important role in building relationship between the two countries based on a solid foundation. When he became president, one of his first visits—I believe, about a year later—was to China.”

“Yes, it was, I think, in 1994. And that was the day when we built those relationships. His legacy is dear for all of us. We follow his path, including in our foreign policy priorities. Among these priorities, China has a special place. Definitely, during the last 20 years, the world has changed. Azerbaijan has changed.

But priorities have not changed. I think if he could see from heaven where we are now, I think, he would proud of Azerbaijan and of Chinese-Azerbaijan relationship.

Well, the example of China and its modernization and reforms are inspiring for many countries. It's a matter of how the countries use this experience, how the leaders of different countries can learn from positive experiences of other countries. I can tell you that the path of progress of China was inspiring for us. As far as I'm concerned, my primary objective when I assumed the office was to preserve political and social stability in the country. At that time, the country was very poor. Of course, we were a subject of penetration, attempts to influence our policy, and interference in our domestic affairs from different Western circles. Under these circumstances, preserving political stability, security, and safety was task number one because I clearly realized that without that, we could not develop. And that was done.

Then, we started to build a strong economy. So today, foreign debt of Azerbaijan is less than 7% of GDP. Our hard currency reserves are 14 times more than our foreign debt. So we reduced unemployment, poverty to the level of 5%. We diversified our economy. As you mentioned, the green agenda is one of the main priorities. China is playing a very important role in that because the solar panels installed in Azerbaijan are made in China,” President Ilham Aliyev said.