Chinese president vows to further political, economic ties with Azerbaijan

China will maintain and promote exchanges between Chinese and Azerbaijani leaders, governments, parliaments and parties to enhance dialogue, political trust and economic cooperation, Chinese President Hu Jintao said here Thursday. During his meeting with visiting Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev, Hu said that the two countries witnessed sound development of bilateral ties since they forged diplomatic ties over 10 years ago. "Especially in recent years, political exchanges and economic cooperation between we two countries were much more frequent and expanded," Hu said, "We shared increasing two-way trade, sound cooperation in energy and other sectors, and we supported each other in international organizations such as the United Nations." Hu expressed his appreciation of Azerbaijan's prioritizing ties with China, claim to admit China's full market-economy status and firm support for China's Taiwan issue, saying that China supports Azerbaijan in entering the World Trade Organization. China will enhance economic ties with Azerbaijan by promoting cooperation in energy, transportation, telecommunication and infrastructure construction, encouraging economic entities of the two countries to establish direct linkage and urging the trade andeconomic cooperation commissions to fully play theirs role, Hu said.