China, Georgia boost ties to 'strategic partnership'

China’s President Xi Jinping has met and held talks with Georgia’s visiting Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili as the two leaders boosted mutual ties to “strategic partnership.”

According to a joint statement published on Monday, the strategic partnership is expected to deepen cooperation between China and Georgia in various areas, including trade, investment, infrastructure, and people-to-people exchanges.

“Both sides regard each other as an important strategic partner and thus regard the deepening of bilateral relations as a priority of their respective foreign policies.” the statement read.

The partnership further aims to expand economic ties between China and Georgia, including bolstering bilateral trade and investment opportunities, as well as collaborating on infrastructure projects.

The statement also pointed to the growth of bilateral trade between Beijing and Tbilisi in recent years, noting that both sides expressed “readiness to further increase bilateral trade, optimize its structure, expand types of products and increase the export of Georgian goods and services to China.”

Georgia has expressed its support to the Chinese initiative called Belt and Road and has signed documents including the Bilateral Cooperation Plan with China, as both sides aim “to gain greater strengths and opportunities of cooperation.”

“The two sides will strengthen policy coordination and synergy of development planning under the Belt and Road Initiative; deepen exchanges and cooperation in various fields,” according to the statement.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Chengdu, China on Friday to discuss the deepening of cooperation between the two countries.

The meeting was part of Garibashvili's official visit to China, during which he also met with other Chinese officials and business leaders.

During his meeting with Xi on Friday, Garibashvili expressed Georgia's appreciation for the long-standing friendship and cooperation with China, noting that Georgia highly values its relationship with China and hopes to expand and deepen cooperation in various fields, including economy and trade.

Xi, in turn, emphasized the significance of China-Georgia relations and expressed his support for the deepening of cooperation between the two countries, noting that Garibashvili's visit to China was an important step in strengthening the partnership between the two countries.

In 2017, China and Georgia signed a free trade agreement (FTA) that came into force in January 2018, after less than a year of negotiations, which has helped to boost bilateral trade between the two countries, which reached a record high of $1.8 billion in 2022.

Under the free trade regime, Georgia imposed zero tariffs on 96.6 percent of imports from Chinese, and in return got zero Chinese tariffs on 93.8 percent of its exports to China.

China is Georgia’s top export destination, accounting for $736.8 million worth of imports in 2022, according to its National Statistics Office.

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