On February 17, the Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian met with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi who is in Yerevan on an official visit by the invitation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.

Welcoming the guest, Edward Nalbandian said that the visit of the Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister to Yerevan is a proof of the dynamic and active relations between the two countries of recent years. 

The Ministers shared the opinion that the visit of the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsian to China and the meeting with the President of the People's Republic of China Hu Jintao last year gave a new impulse to the bilateral relations.

In the course of the meeting the sides discussed the process of the implementation of the agreements reached between the Presidents of the two countries, as well as the possibilities of further expansion and inclusion of the newest one to the existing areas of cooperation.
The Foreign Affairs Ministers stressed the importance of the role of the regular contacts on the high-level between the two countries and expressed confidence that they will give a new impulse to the further development and deepening of their relations.

The sides had a thorough talk on a wide range of international issues. In the context of discussing the regional issues, Minister Nalbandian presented the recent developments in the settlement of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) issue to his Chinese counterpart and mentioned that Armenia highly appreciates the balanced position of China on the settlement of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) issue.

In his part, the Chinese Foreign Minister expressed gratitude for Armenia's traditional position on "One China".

In the course of the meeting, Edward Nalbandian and Yang Jiechi touched upon the promotion of trade-economic relations between two countries, improvement of legal-contractual field, expansion of transport, energy, humanitarian, cultural and educational exchanges, as well as decentralized cooperation.
The Ministers of the two countries stressed the importance of undertaking of steps towards the development of interaction in the economic sphere. They also underlined that the exploitation of  the Armenian-Chinese Shanxi-Nairit joint venture in the Shanxi province of China in the presentence of the President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsian, the economic projects implemented by China in Armenia are proofs of the development of bilateral economic ties. The preparatory works of the 6th session of the Armenian-Chinese Intergovernmental Commission were touched upon as well. 

Edward Nalbandian expressed gratitude for the continuous technical support of the Chinese government, through which eight dozen ambulances will be provided only this year, and a number of buses in the future.

The Armenian Foreign Minister informed that the Armenian Government made a decision on the visa facilitation for the Chinese citizens recently and expressed gratitude that the decision will give a new impulse to the business, cultural and educational exchanges.

The Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister highly appreciated the works implemented by the Confucius Centre at the Yerevan State Linguistic University in spreading of Chinese language and culture.

The interlocutors agreed to organize events on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The Ministers had a thorough talk on the intensification of consultations held between the Foreign Affairs Ministers of Armenia and China, as well as the issues related to the rapprochement of the cooperation between two countries.
After the meeting the Ministers made statements for the media.