On May 23, 2019 local time, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan met with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the President's Residence in Baku.

Ilham Aliyev asked Wang Yi to convey his warm greetings to President Xi Jinping. Ilham Aliyev expressed that last month, I was honored to attend the grand gathering of the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation at invitation, and held fruitful talks with President Xi Jinping. Azerbaijan has fully supported and actively participated in the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative since the very beginning, and stands ready to make full use of its location advantages to deepen cooperation with the Chinese side in energy, transportation, economy and trade, processing and manufacturing, and tourism. Considering China as a trustworthy friend and partner, Azerbaijan has always regarded developing relations with China as a diplomatic priority. Azerbaijan admires China's development achievements and is willing to learn from China's experience. Capable Chinese enterprises with advanced technology, such as Huawei, are welcome to further expand investment in Azerbaijan and participate in its national development and construction process. The Azerbaijani side will continue to firmly support the Chinese side on issues concerning the Chinese side's core interests and major concerns.

Wang Yi conveyed President Xi Jinping's warm greetings to Ilham Aliyev, and expressed that the two heads of state reached important consensus on strengthening China-Azerbaijan relations and deepening cooperation in the joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative. The Chinese side is willing to make joint efforts with the Azerbaijani side to translate the high-level mutual trust between the two heads of state and the solid political relations between the two countries into strong impetus that can boost practical cooperation. The Chinese side is willing to align the Belt and Road Initiative with the national development strategies of Azerbaijan, discuss establishing cooperative partnership in energy exploitation with the Azerbaijani side, carry out long-term and stable upper- and lower-stream cooperation in oil and gas, and help Azerbaijan realize diversification in energy export; the Chinese side will also establish the cooperative partnership of independent development with Azerbaijan to facilitate its diversified development strategies and improve its independent development capacity; and the Chinese side will establish cooperative partnership of digital economy with Azerbaijan to assist it in accelerating scientific and technological innovation and developing digital and online economy. The Chinese side will encourage Chinese enterprises to participate in and make positive contributions to Azerbaijan's development and construction. Appreciating the Azerbaijani side for supporting the Chinese side on issues concerning its core interests and major concerns, the Chinese side will as always respect Azerbaijan's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and support the development path chosen by the Azerbaijani people in line with their national conditions. The Chinese side is full of confidence in the development prospects of bilateral relations.

On the same day, Wang Yi also held talks with Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov of Azerbaijan.