On June 24 RA Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan received the Ambassador Extraordinary and Pleinotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Armenia Hong Jiuyin and Military Attaché Ma Yunbao. At the beginning of the meeting Seyran Ohanyan extended condolences to the people of China connected with the thousands of victims as a result of the recent earthquake in China and the crash of the passenger train.

Thanking the Minister, Hong Jiuyin noted that the Government and the Armed Forces of China pay great attention to the friendship between our two countries and bilateral cooperation both in military and other fields. He specially underlined the centuries-old history of the Armenian and Chinese peoples, expressing hope that this friendship will be permanent and beneficial. On behalf of the Minister of Defense of China, the Ambassador conveyed an official invitation to RA Defense Minister to visit China later this year. During the meeting Seyran Ohanyan expressed gratitude to the Government of China and the leadership of the banks for the assistance rendered up until now and expressed willingness to be useful to China within the frames of our country’s capacities. The parties discussed the current state of bilateral relations in the military sphere and issues related to the further deepening of those, once again underlining that Armenia and China are friendly states and China attaches special importance to the cooperation with our country. It was noted also that this cooperation is put on good bases and it is deepening day by day. At the end of the meeting the parties wished success to the sportsmen of the two countries in the 29th Olympic Games to be held in China this summer.