Tianjin, August 31, 2025 – By drawing a direct line between the long-debated Zangezur corridor and the wider Middle Corridor, Hikmet Hajiyev is signaling more than just an infrastructure project. He is effectively placing Azerbaijan at the intersection of China’s ambitions, Europe’s needs, and the South Caucasus’ fragile geopolitics.
Hajiyev stressed that trade turnover between China and Azerbaijan has grown by 40 percent, and that cooperation now extends into high-tech areas like artificial intelligence, renewable energy, and digital transformation. This framing is important: Baku is not just presenting itself as a transit country, but as a partner in the technologies shaping the 21st century.
At the heart of his remarks, however, lies the geopolitical weight of the Zangezur corridor. Built into the still-uncertain Armenia–Azerbaijan peace process, the route is presented as a natural extension of the Middle Corridor, the transport artery linking China to Europe via Central Asia and the South Caucasus. If opened, it would shorten transit times, cut costs, and give Azerbaijan a pivotal role in east–west connectivity.
Yet the corridor’s future is tied to politics as much as logistics. Armenia’s reluctance, regional rivalries, and competing Russian, Turkish, and Western interests mean that the Zangezur project is still as much a diplomatic bargaining chip as it is a railway line on a map. By linking it publicly to the Middle Corridor, Hajiyev is raising the stakes: the success of China–Azerbaijan cooperation is no longer just about bilateral trade, but about whether the South Caucasus can stabilize enough to host a key segment of Eurasia’s trade lifeline.
The message is clear — if Zangezur opens, Azerbaijan doesn’t just connect regions. It anchors itself as indispensable to both Beijing’s Belt and Road vision and Europe’s search for alternative routes beyond Russia.
