China

Last updated: June 11, 2026

China is the world’s second-largest economy with a population of approximately 1.4 billion people and the largest manufacturing base globally. The People’s Republic of China (PRC), governed as a one-party socialist state under the Chinese Communist Party, has emerged as a superpower through rapid economic growth, technological advancement, and strategic infrastructure development. China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched in 2013, represents a comprehensive strategy to expand economic ties and geopolitical influence across Asia, Africa, Europe, and increasingly the South Caucasus through infrastructure investment, trade partnerships, and financial mechanisms like the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

China’s rise as a global power shapes the geopolitical environment in which Armenia operates, particularly through its strategic partnership with Russia and its competition with the United States for influence across Eurasia. Beijing has deepened ties with Moscow in response to Western sanctions and isolation, creating a de facto alignment that affects regional dynamics from Ukraine to the South Caucasus. China’s Belt and Road Initiative and its broader vision of a multipolar world order challenge the U.S.-led international system, creating openings and constraints for smaller states navigating between competing great powers.

China’s Economic Strategy in the South Caucasus

China views the South Caucasus as a critical bridge connecting Central Asia to Europe and bypassing trans-Siberian routes. The Belt and Road Initiative focuses on developing reliable trans-Caspian trade routes, securing energy resources, capturing electric vehicle markets, and establishing logistical footholds in Black Sea ports. In Georgia, Chinese consortia are reviving the stalled Anaklia Deep-Sea Port project to create a major container hub, leveraging Georgia’s tariff-free trade agreement with China. In Azerbaijan, bilateral trade reached approximately $3.74 billion, with Chinese state-owned enterprises investing heavily in petrochemicals, metallurgy, and renewable energy. Azerbaijan has also emerged as a massive market for Chinese EV exports, importing nearly 15,500 hybrid and electric vehicles in a recent year. China has aligned the BRI with Azerbaijan’s domestic “Silk Road Revival” to maximize trans-Caspian multimodal freight integration.

China-Armenia Relations

China’s economic engagement with Armenia remains underdeveloped compared to its partnerships with Azerbaijan and Georgia. Beijing is exploring highway development via the North-South Transport Corridor to better link Armenia to regional trade networks. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Silk Road Fund serve as primary mechanisms for Chinese financing of regional road, rail, and telecommunication upgrades, though Armenian participation lags behind other Caucasus states. China’s technological and innovation cooperation includes digitalization and “Smart Science City” development initiatives, but Armenia has not been prioritized as a hub for these programs. The limited bilateral economic engagement reflects both Armenia’s smaller market size and its historical alignment with Russia, which constrains Chinese investment even as Beijing seeks to expand its economic footprint across the region.

For Armenia, China’s trajectory matters less as a direct economic partner than as a force reshaping the larger contest between Russia and the West—and increasingly, between itself and the West—within which Armenia’s own survival depends.

The Iran War beginning in early 2026 brought China into sharper focus as a factor in Armenian security. Dr. Anatol Lieven and Sergei Melkonian both examined how the war affects energy supplies, de-dollarization, and alternative financial architectures that bypass American control, with China positioned as a potential beneficiary of reduced U.S. dominance in global markets. Prof. Warwick Powell discussed in depth how the war on Iran relates to U.S. energy efficiency, the limits of American airpower, and the rise of alternative payment systems and information networks in which China plays a central role. These conversations illustrated that Armenia’s position in a multipolar order depends partly on whether China and Russia can sustain their partnership, and whether the U.S. can maintain its leverage over regional states despite mounting challenges to its global position.

TRIPP (Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity), the U.S.-backed transit corridor through Armenian Syunik province, is explicitly framed by Washington as a tool to limit Chinese and Russian influence in Central Asia and the Middle East. Multiple episodes have noted that the corridor serves American strategic interests in accessing critical minerals and building logistics networks independent of both Iran and Russia, with secondary implications for containing Chinese Belt and Road expansion in the region. China’s own interests in Eurasian connectivity remain underdeveloped in Armenia-specific analysis, but the competing visions of regional integration between TRIPP and Russian-Chinese alternatives represent a structural choice Armenia cannot avoid indefinitely. Whether Armenia emerges from its current isolation as a node in a U.S., Russian, Chinese, or genuinely multipolar network will depend on outcomes beyond Armenian control, making Armenia’s role in the broader U.S.-China-Russia competition far more consequential than any direct Sino-Armenian relationship.

Groong episodes that include this tag

Below are all Groong episodes tagged with China.

Guest:

Topics:

  • Election and Politics, and The Geopolitical Context
  • Who are the Major External Influencers in Georgia’s Politics?
  • Why is the EU hell bent against the Law on “Foreign Agents”?
  • Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Russia Relations

Episode 363 | Recorded: September 11, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Election and Politics, and The Geopolitical Context
  • Who are the Major External Influencers in Georgia’s Politics?
  • Why is the EU hell bent against the Law on “Foreign Agents”?
  • Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Russia Relations

Episode 363 | Recorded: September 11, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Iran Shuts Down Talk of “Zangezur Corridor”
  • Armenia Azerbaijan Talks
  • Iran Armenia Trade / BRICS
  • Foreign Intelligence Service
  • Georgian and Azerbaijani Elections

Episode 361 | Recorded: September 11, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Iran Shuts Down Talk of “Zangezur Corridor”
  • Armenia Azerbaijan Talks
  • Iran Armenia Trade / BRICS
  • Foreign Intelligence Service
  • Georgian and Azerbaijani Elections

Episode 361 | Recorded: September 11, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Norwegian & NATO Support for Ukraine
  • “The Ukraine War & the Eurasian World Order”
  • Small States and Multipolarity
  • Armenia’s Position in a Multipolar World

Episode 359 | Recorded: August 30, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Norwegian & NATO Support for Ukraine
  • “The Ukraine War & the Eurasian World Order”
  • Small States and Multipolarity
  • Armenia’s Position in a Multipolar World

Episode 359 | Recorded: August 30, 2024

Norwegian & NATO Support for Ukraine. “The Ukraine War & the Eurasian World Order”. Small States and Multipolarity. Armenia’s Position in a Multipolar World.

Guest:

Topics:

  • Armenia Azerbaijan Talks
  • Declarations of Independence
    • Declaration of State Sovereignty of Armenia (1990)
    • Artsakh Independence Day - September 2 (1991)
  • Pashinyan Press Conference
    • Negotiations Formats
    • Artsakh Rights & Security as Pashinyan’s “National Security” Problem
    • Armenian and Azerbaijani Constitutions
    • Liberating Occupied Armenian Territories
  • Putin in Baku
    • Azerbaijan’s Application to BRICS

Episode 358 | Recorded: September 2, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Armenia Azerbaijan Talks
  • Declarations of Independence
    • Declaration of State Sovereignty of Armenia (1990)
    • Artsakh Independence Day - September 2 (1991)
  • Pashinyan Press Conference
    • Negotiations Formats
    • Artsakh Rights & Security as Pashinyan’s “National Security” Problem
    • Armenian and Azerbaijani Constitutions
    • Liberating Occupied Armenian Territories
  • Putin in Baku
    • Azerbaijan’s Application to BRICS

Episode 358 | Recorded: September 2, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Russian-Iranian Relations
  • Russian-Armenian Relations
  • Ukraine’s Kursk Gambit
  • Pavel Durov Arrested in France
  • Observations from Armenia and Russia

Episode 357 | Recorded: August 28, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Russian-Iranian Relations
  • Russian-Armenian Relations
  • Ukraine’s Kursk Gambit
  • Pavel Durov Arrested in France
  • Observations from Armenia and Russia

Episode 357 | Recorded: August 28, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

Episode 354 | Recorded: August 17, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

Episode 354 | Recorded: August 17, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Iran’s Geopolitical Moves
  • Armenia Azerbaijan Talks
  • Stalled “Normalization”

Episode 353 | Recorded: August 12, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Iran’s Geopolitical Moves
  • Armenia Azerbaijan Talks
  • Stalled “Normalization”

Episode 353 | Recorded: August 12, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Background on Amb. Melikian
  • From Revolution to War
  • Goris-Kapan Handover
  • Armenia’s “Pivot” To The West
  • Srbazan Movement
  • Pan-Armenian Diplomatic Council

Episode 352a | Recorded: August 12, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Background on Amb. Melikian
  • From Revolution to War
  • Goris-Kapan Handover
  • Armenia’s “Pivot” To The West
  • Srbazan Movement
  • Pan-Armenian Diplomatic Council

Episode 352a | Recorded: August 12, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • US Leadership Changes
  • Iran Armenia Relations
  • Russian-Armenian Relations
  • EU Push for an Agreement
  • Srbazan Movement Next Steps

Episode 351 | Recorded: August 6, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • US Leadership Changes
  • Iran Armenia Relations
  • Russian-Armenian Relations
  • EU Push for an Agreement
  • Srbazan Movement Next Steps

Episode 351 | Recorded: August 6, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Revolutionary Mistakes
  • Nov. 9 Statement, Corridors, Communications
  • Misguided Pivot
  • Turkish Involvement in the 44-Day War

Episode 349 | Recorded: July 31, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Revolutionary Mistakes
  • Nov. 9 Statement, Corridors, Communications
  • Misguided Pivot
  • Turkish Involvement in the 44-Day War

Episode 349 | Recorded: July 31, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Who Will be the Next Leader of the US?
  • Turkish-Armenian Talks
  • US-Armenian Defense Coop
  • Armenia Azerbaijan Talks

Episode 348 | Recorded: July 30, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Who Will be the Next Leader of the US?
  • Turkish-Armenian Talks
  • US-Armenian Defense Coop
  • Armenia Azerbaijan Talks

Episode 348 | Recorded: July 30, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • New Leadership Coming to Many Countries
  • Aliyev Continues to Thumb the Nose of The West
  • Permanent US Defense Attaché to Armenia
  • Mid-year Review of our 2024 Predictions

Episode 347 | Recorded: July 22, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • New Leadership Coming to Many Countries
  • Aliyev Continues to Thumb the Nose of The West
  • Permanent US Defense Attaché to Armenia
  • Mid-year Review of our 2024 Predictions

Episode 347 | Recorded: July 22, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Prospect of a Trump Presidency on the Caucasus
  • Update on political prisoners
  • PACE report
  • Referendum on joining EU
  • Bagrat Srbazan Tavush movement

Episode 346 | Recorded: July 18, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Prospect of a Trump Presidency on the Caucasus
  • Update on political prisoners
  • PACE report
  • Referendum on joining EU
  • Bagrat Srbazan Tavush movement

Episode 346 | Recorded: July 18, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Armenia’s Draft Law on Mass Surveillance
  • USAID-funded Deal with AWS
  • Government Track Record of Cybersecurity Failures

Episode 344 | Recorded: July 11, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Armenia’s Draft Law on Mass Surveillance
  • USAID-funded Deal with AWS
  • Government Track Record of Cybersecurity Failures

Episode 344 | Recorded: July 11, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Background on the Lemkin Institute
  • Genocide in Artsakh
  • Armenian Government’s Genocide Denial
  • Gaza and other Genocides

Episode 341 | Recorded: June 25, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Background on the Lemkin Institute
  • Genocide in Artsakh
  • Armenian Government’s Genocide Denial
  • Gaza and other Genocides

Episode 341 | Recorded: June 25, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Srbazan Movement: Pause & Regroup?
  • EU Parliamentary Shift to the Right
    • Armenia and EU Membership
  • Renewed Azerbaijani Threats of War
    • Armenia Reports CAESAR Artillery Acquisition
  • Did Pashinyan Get Marching Orders from Erdogan?

Episode 339 | Recorded: June 23, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Srbazan Movement: Pause & Regroup?
  • EU Parliamentary Shift to the Right
    • Armenia and EU Membership
  • Renewed Azerbaijani Threats of War
    • Armenia Reports CAESAR Artillery Acquisition
  • Did Pashinyan Get Marching Orders from Erdogan?

Episode 339 | Recorded: June 23, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Police Brutality, Violence & Repressions
  • Armenia Azerbaijan Talks
  • Armenia Russia Relations

Episode 337 | Recorded: June 17, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Police Brutality, Violence & Repressions
  • Armenia Azerbaijan Talks
  • Armenia Russia Relations

Episode 337 | Recorded: June 17, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Heavy Rainstorms Flood Northern Armenia
  • Bagrat Srbazan Movement
    • Church and State
  • Geopolitical Developments
  • Rights and Security for Artsakh Armenians

Episode 334 | Recorded: June 3, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Heavy Rainstorms Flood Northern Armenia
  • Bagrat Srbazan Movement
    • Church and State
  • Geopolitical Developments
  • Rights and Security for Artsakh Armenians

Episode 334 | Recorded: June 3, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Georgian Law on Foreign Agents
  • Politics and Diplomacy of Armenia
  • Parallels and Lessons from Georgia

Episode 332 | Recorded: May 25, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Georgian Law on Foreign Agents
  • Politics and Diplomacy of Armenia
  • Parallels and Lessons from Georgia

Episode 332 | Recorded: May 25, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Tavush Protests Gain Momentum
  • Pashinyan Pressing Ahead with Land Concessions
  • Poll Results on Tavush Protests

Episode 331 | Recorded: May 18, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Tavush Protests Gain Momentum
  • Pashinyan Pressing Ahead with Land Concessions
  • Poll Results on Tavush Protests

Episode 331 | Recorded: May 18, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • USSR: A common Home & History
  • Georgia’s Foreign Agent Bill
  • Armenia-Georgian Relations

Episode 330 | Recorded: May 17, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • USSR: A common Home & History
  • Georgia’s Foreign Agent Bill
  • Armenia-Georgian Relations

Episode 330 | Recorded: May 17, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Bagrat Srbazan Brings Masses To the Streets
  • Armenia Azerbaijan Talks Continue

Episode 329 | Recorded: May 14, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Bagrat Srbazan Brings Masses To the Streets
  • Armenia Azerbaijan Talks Continue

Episode 329 | Recorded: May 14, 2024

Guests:

Topics:

  • Impressions: Raisina 2024 Dialogue
  • Indian Community
  • Trade Opportunities
  • Defense & Security

Episode 327 | Recorded: April 26, 2024

Guests:

Topics:

  • Impressions: Raisina 2024 Dialogue
  • Indian Community
  • Trade Opportunities
  • Defense & Security

Episode 327 | Recorded: April 26, 2024

Topics:

  • Economic Diversification
  • Systemic Corruption
  • Bank Secrecy Scrapped

Guest:

Episode 319 | Recorded: March 16, 2024

Topics:

  • Economic Diversification
  • Systemic Corruption
  • Bank Secrecy Scrapped

Guest:

Episode 319 | Recorded: March 16, 2024

Topics:

  • IRI Poll, December 2023
  • MPG Poll, February 2024

Guest:

Topics:

Episode 317 | Recorded: March 16, 2024

Topics:

  • IRI Poll, December 2023
  • MPG Poll, February 2024

Guest:

Topics:

Episode 317 | Recorded: March 16, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Establishment of Canadian Embassy in Armenia
  • EU Monitoring Mission in Armenia (EUMA)
  • Political Prisoners
  • Canadian Military Supplies to Turkey

Episode 316 | Recorded: March 15, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Establishment of Canadian Embassy in Armenia
  • EU Monitoring Mission in Armenia (EUMA)
  • Political Prisoners
  • Canadian Military Supplies to Turkey

Episode 316 | Recorded: March 15, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Armenia’s Security in Danger
  • Munich Security Conference
  • Relations with Regional Allies

Episode 310 | Recorded: February 18, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Armenia’s Security in Danger
  • Munich Security Conference
  • Relations with Regional Allies

Episode 310 | Recorded: February 18, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Yerevan City Politics
  • Aliyev “Elections”
  • Armenia-Georgia Strategic Partnership
  • Latest MPG Poll Review

Episode 309 | Recorded: Feb 11, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • Yerevan City Politics
  • Aliyev “Elections”
  • Armenia-Georgia Strategic Partnership
  • Latest MPG Poll Review

Episode 309 | Recorded: Feb 11, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • World in Conflict
    • Ukraine, Israel-Gaza, Middle East
  • Armenia Azerbaijan Negotiations
  • Prognosis for 2024
  • Thoughts from the Participants

Episode 304 | Recorded: January 22, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • World in Conflict
    • Ukraine, Israel-Gaza, Middle East
  • Armenia Azerbaijan Negotiations
  • Prognosis for 2024
  • Thoughts from the Participants

Episode 304 | Recorded: January 22, 2024

Guest:

Topics:

  • An Armenian in St. Petersburg, Russia
  • Russian Perceptions and Outlook on the War in Ukraine
  • Perceptions of Armenia and Artsakh in Russia
  • World Events that might Affect Outcome of the War in Ukraine
  • Where do Armenia and Artsakh Figure in a New World Order?

Episode 303 | Recorded: January 22, 2024