Chong Quan, Deputy China International Trade Representative, called on Georgian Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, on July 10.

Chong Quan conveyed, first of all, greetings from Premier Wen Jiabao to Prime Minister Vano and the people of Georgia. He said the sound development of China-Georgia economic and trade relations is beneficial to both countries and peoples. And this session of China-Georgia Economic and Trade Joint Committee is a complete success, on which much consensus was reached. Both parties believe that China-Georgia economic and trade relations has developed smoothly, and have great potential.

Chong Quan said that the current world economic situation is not optimistic, and China is taking measures to expand domestic demand, making efforts to maintain steady economic growth. It is necessary to firmly oppose trade protectionism under the current circumstances, and all countries including China and Georgia should cooperate closely to jointly cope with the weak market demand in Europe and America, and promote national and world prosperity. China would like to become Georgia’s largest trading partner, and to further open the market to expand imports of competitive Georgian products that are popular in Chinese market.

Vano expressed his gratitude to the China’s support to Georgia’s economic development. He visited China many times, seeing the miracle of China's rapid economic development. Georgian people are increasingly interested to China , believing that Georgia’s economic development hinges on the close relations with China. He hoped China to become more powerful, and to become Georgia's largest trading partner as early as possible, and Georgia could share the benefits of China's development. Although Georgia's economic scale is small, it has a high degree of market liberalization, and could become the door for Chinese enterprises to develop trade and investment, hoping to develop multi-level cooperation between the governments and enterprises of the two countries, and promote the comprehensive development of bilateral relations.

Chinese Ambassador to Georgia Chen Jianfu attended the meeting.