Tianjin, August 31 /BNA/ – Chinese President Xi Jinping said today, Sunday, that China supports Azerbaijan’s accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization during his meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the coastal city of Tianjin on the sidelines of the SCO summit.

According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, Xi emphasized the need to continue improving the efficiency of the international transport corridor across the Caspian Sea, expanding cooperation in traditional fields such as infrastructure, agriculture, and energy, and boosting new growth drivers in emerging sectors including digital economy, green development, and artificial intelligence.

For his part, Aliyev expressed Azerbaijan’s readiness to enhance cooperation with China in economy, trade, science, technology, connectivity, and tourism to achieve more benefits for the peoples of both countries. He also showed Azerbaijan’s willingness to work more closely with China within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to jointly promote peace and development at regional and global levels.

The two sides signed several bilateral cooperation agreements covering artificial intelligence, innovation in science and technology, finance, and media.

Azerbaijan is currently a dialogue partner of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.