Georgian Parliament official highlights prospects for deeper Georgia-China cooperation

Irakli Kadagishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Regional Policy and Self-Government Committee, on Friday assessed the visit to China, announcing that the ruling parties of Georgia and China would sign a memorandum of understanding aimed at further strengthening cooperation between the two countries.

In his remarks, Kadagishvili highlighted the close exchanges held with China’s ruling party and its Department of International Relations, noting that the discussions would help identify ways to further advance bilateral cooperation.

“We had very close exchanges of views with the ruling party and its Department of International Relations, which will help shape the future development of cooperation between our countries. We also held a number of interesting meetings with women’s and youth organisations, as well as with a foreign languages university, where a Georgian language section has been established and 12 Chinese students are studying Georgian”, he said.

Kadagishvili stressed that the memorandum between the two ruling parties was particularly important, given the leading role of the Communist Party in China’s governance system.

Commenting on the delegation’s visit to technology companies in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, Kadagishvili said they had gained first-hand insight into China’s technological capabilities.

“Our visit to this city was particularly important, as it is not only a centre of tradition and culture but also one of the leading cities in innovation, artificial intelligence and robotics. We saw the real potential China has, which is very important for Georgia. Cooperation between Georgian and Chinese businesses will also be significant. Overall, we held interesting meetings across various fields and established good contacts”, he noted.

Kadagishvili further said that efforts were underway to establish a sister-region partnership between Zhejiang Province and one of Georgia’s regions.

He noted that preliminary consent had already been obtained from the relevant regional leadership, while further consultations would continue with the involvement of the Georgian Embassy.

“Given the considerable economic potential and broad scope for cooperation enjoyed by China’s regions, I believe such a partnership will be very important for Georgia, particularly for the Georgian region that will sign the friendship agreement”, Kadagishvili concluded.