Opinion | Chinese investment in Azerbaijan is a win-win for both countries

Azerbaijan, located in the centre of the so-called middle corridor of the transportation links between China and Europe remains a reliable transit partner for China. This ongoing successful business cooperation will contribute to increasing the economic trade links between the two countries.

A perfect example of this happened on June 20 when a cargo train consisting of 43 cars from China headed to Istanbul, passing through Azerbaijan. The cargo was received at the Port of Baku and successfully delivered to Turkey through the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. The Xi’an Free Trade Port Construction and Operations logistics platform regularly transports cargo from China to Turkey through Azerbaijan.

Furthermore, Azerbaijan’s role as a transit country for China is not limited to cargo, as it is keen about becoming a regional hub for the establishment of the Asia-Europe telecommunications corridor and the transmission of Chinese internet traffic.

A strategic memorandum of cooperation signed between China Telecom and AzerTelecom in 2019 is a crucial framework agreement to achieve this objective. Becoming a telecommunications transit country between Europe and China is of great benefit to Azerbaijan. Indeed, Azerbaijan gains both transit revenues and Chinese technical assistance to strengthen the country’s telecommunications and logistic capabilities.

The middle corridor through Azerbaijan is the least costly transit route for China. The shortest rail route to deliver goods from China to Europe runs through Azerbaijan. The middle corridor passing through Azerbaijan has several advantages over other trans-continental transport corridors in terms of existing infrastructure and proximity to Europe.