China, Azerbaijan sign deal on economic, technological cooperation

Azerbaijan and China signed an agreement on economic and technological cooperation Thursday. The deal was signed by Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Abid Sharifov and Chinese ambassador to Azerbaijan Hong Jiuyin. Under the agreement, China will provide Azerbaijan with grant aid worth 30 million yuan (about 4.89 million U.S. dollars) to promote bilateral economic and technological cooperation. The agreement also provides for the delivery of various Chinese products to Azerbaijan. At the signing ceremony, Abid Sharifov said turnover between the two countries exceeded 900 million U.S. dollars last year. " Both China and Azerbaijan have a great potential for further growth at this rate," Sharifov said. Hong, the Chinese ambassador, said relations between the countries are developing steadily with trade turnover increasing rapidly. Such positive indexes open up wider prospects for bilateral ties, Hong added.