Zhou Qian, the Chinese Ambassador to Georgia, on Saturday noted the bilateral trade turnover with Georgia amounted to $2 billion and increased by 48 percent in 2023, compared to the previous year, highlighting the total number of investments from China to Georgia that exceeded $800 million.

"For many years, China has been one of Georgia’s leading trade partners and the largest investor Georgia is interesting for Chinese companies because of its favourable geographical location and free trade regimes with many countries”, - the Ambassador said.

Qian emphasized that the Chinese companies were also “ready” to engage in the process of developing Georgia as an energy, transport and digital hub, and stressed the establishment of a strategic partnership between the two states and the implementation of the visa-free regime would be beneficial in this regard.

Qian announced the visa-free regime between the countries would most likely be officially signed in April and would be implemented in the coming months, and noted China and Georgia were actively working to add more direct flights.

The Ambassador  also said Georgia was set to take part in the international tourism exhibition - ITB China in May, which would be hosted in Shanghai, and pointed out it would further promote Georgia in China, as well as cooperation between tourist agencies of the two states.