President meets with foreign leaders

Armenia

China and Armenia should promote mutual learning from their respective civilizations to provide strong support for their time-honored friendship and the joint building of the Belt and Road, President Xi Jinping said in a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Xi noted that both countries are ancient civilizations with a long history, and the friendship and cooperation between the two peoples, which dates back to the ancient Silk Road, continues to this day.

He called on both sides to inject new impetus into regional development and cooperation, and continue to offer support to each other on issues related to their respective core interests and major concerns.

China is ready to explore cooperation potential with Armenia, and enable more concrete outcomes to be generated from areas such as trade, investment, mineral exploitation, renewable energy and infrastructure construction, he said.

The two sides should seek closer people-to-people exchanges, bolster cooperation in counterterrorism and law enforcement, and jointly combat the "three evil forces of terrorism, separatism and extremism", he added.

Pashinyan noted that China and Armenia are ancient civilizations and the two nations have boosted their close trade and cultural relations throughout history.

Armenia attaches strategic importance to relations with China and is willing to actively participate in the joint building of the Belt and Road, he said, adding that the country is committed to resolutely combating terrorist forces.