Eurasia Diary conducts exclusive interview with Mr. Xu Wen Hong who is the Deputy Secretary General, research fellow from Center One Belt One Road Chinese Academy of Social sciences. He talks about his visit to Azerbaijan.
Eurasia Diary: Hello, welcome to Eurasia Diary, today we have a very distinguished guest, Mr. Xu Wen Hong, the Deputy Secretary General, research fellow from Center One Belt One Road Chinese Academy of Social sciences. This is the number 1 Research Center in China according to Pennsylvania University’s ranking. It is our pleasure to have Dr. Xu Wen Hong here today. I would like to interview you about the reasons behind your presence in Azerbaijan, I think you are doing some research here, don’t you?
Dr. Xu: It is also a great honor for me to be here to have this interview. Actually I am here by the invitation of AIDA – Azerbaijan International Development Agency of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan. I am here to do research on the topic so-called: the possibilities of energy cooperation between Azerbaijan and China.
Eurasia Diary: It is already the end of your research, and would you mind sharing with us your conclusions?
DR. Xu: Actually according to traditional understanding, energy cooperation is limited to gas and oil. But we have wider understanding that also include alternative energy and the renewable energy. Even in terms of oil and gas as traditional products for energy cooperation, which involves buying and selling oil and gas, or building oil/ gas pipelines. I don’t think it is a good understanding. This time we suggest mutual investments, Azerbaijan could attract investment from China to Azerbaijan, and we can also have technology cooperation. Azerbaijan used to be the oil capital, the first country to produce oil for sale. In 1960s, 1970s, many Chinese students came to Azerbaijan to learn oil and gas technology. Also we can have more cooperation in human resource exchange. Every year, we have many Chinese students studying at Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry. Also Azerbaijan State Oil Company has Chinese experts working. We could have more human and technology exchange. That is my basic conclusion.
Eurasia Diary:That sounds very optimistic the potentials for cooperation between Azerbaijan and China. Apart from energy cooperation, is there any other field that Azerbaijan and China can increase cooperation to strengthen the bilateral relationships?
Dr. Xu: That could be renewable energy. I know Azerbaijan invested 800 million manats in renewable energy. In this field China is a big investor in solar and wind energy. We have advanced energy. So in this field, Azerbaijan can also gain from cooperation in alternative energy with China.
Eurasia Diary: Since China is very famous in the world for their agricultural products. And the trend that more and more Chinese citizens are going abroad for tourism, then how about in terms of tourism and agriculture, what could be the potential cooperation between Azerbaijan and China.
Dr. Xu:This is a good question. As you might know, China with 7% farmland for agriculture but manage to provide food for more than 22% of world population. This is really a big task and challenge for China. Then China has actually advanced technology in agriculture. We could also import more food from Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan also has good agriculture industry. We could have more cooperation in this field. As we are talking about tourism, as you know, in only 2015, China has more than 120 million tourists going abroad, that is a really good number, big number. So actually as I know in this time, Azerbaijan put tourism as one of the 4 priorities in economic development. Azerbaijan wants to attract more foreign tourists here. So if only 1% of Chinese tourism will come to Azerbaijan, it will be a big revenue for the country. In fact, till this time, not many Chinese tourists know Azerbaijan, so we believe Azerbaijan has potentials to attract tourists from China. When I first came to the old city of Baku, I was shocked by the beautiful scenery. I believe more and more Chinese tourists will come here to have a look.
Eurasia Diary: So you also have some time to travel around Azerbaijan a little bit. Which cities have you been to in Azerbaijan?
Dr. Xu: Actually I travelled a lot. I have been to Sheki, Gabala, Guba, Gushala, Lahij, Nakhchivan. I like all these places very much.
Eurasia Diary: One more thing is about Azerbaijani food. Azerbaijani citizens are very proud of their delicious national cuisines; can you share with us your feelings? What are your favorite dishes here?
Dr. Xu: So many. We have tasted so many Azerbaijani foods, like dolma, soup, sac. Sac is very close to Chinese food so we like it very much.
Eurasia Diary: Really? So you see some similarities between Azerbaijani and Chinese foods. Then I also would like to ask what are your recommendations for Azerbaijani government in further promoting Azerbaijan to Chinese citizens. What do you think are lacking? What are challenges?
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Dr. Xu: Actually, till this time, not so many Chinese people know Azerbaijan. So I think Azerbaijani government should make more advertisements to Chinese tourists. The travel agencies are doing a good job, but still not enough.
Eurasia Diary: How about on the other side, how to have more Azerbaijani tourists to come to China?
Dr. Xu: This is another good point. China is within Asian civilization with its colorful history and beautiful scenery. We are ready for Azerbaijani tourists. Also if more and more Azerbaijani tourists come to China, more and more Chinese tourists will come to Azerbaijan. With such exchanges, we will have more cooperation not only in culture, but also reflections in economic and other fields.
Eurasia Diary:Thank you very much for having the interview with us. We would like to see more cooperation between China and Azerbaijan.
Interview by : Linh Tong
Editor for East Asia region at Eurasia Diary, Research Assistant at ADA University.
