Georgia, Azerbaijan security chiefs strengthen ties at China forum

Georgia’s top security official has held face-to-face talks with his Azerbaijani counterpart in China, with both sides pledging to deepen intelligence cooperation amid growing global security challenges.

Geka Geladze, head of Georgia’s State Security Service, met Ali Naghiyev, head of Azerbaijan’s State Security Service, on the sidelines of the Global Public Security Cooperation Forum in Lianyungang, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province.

The forum, now in its fifth year, has brought together senior law enforcement and security officials from more than 100 countries to discuss cross-border crime, terrorism and other shared threats.

Security challenges in focus

According to a statement from Georgia’s State Security Service, the two officials discussed “contemporary challenges facing international security” as well as the broader regional security situation, against a backdrop of what the agency called “growing global threats.”

Both sides highlighted the strategic partnership between Georgia and Azerbaijan and reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation between the two security agencies.

No concrete new agreement was announced following the talks, but the location of the meeting carries wider significance as China expands its transport links towards Central Asia and the South Caucasus.

Why Lianyungang matters

Lianyungang is a major Chinese port at the eastern end of the New Eurasian Land Bridge and an important hub for Belt and Road rail and maritime connections extending west towards Central Asia and the Caspian region.

The port is also linked to developing rail and sea routes via Aktau in Kazakhstan, aimed at moving goods from China across the Caspian Sea and onwards to the Middle Corridor.

The Middle Corridor connects China and Central Asia with Europe through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Türkiye, making Lianyungang increasingly relevant to the transport infrastructure linking China with the South Caucasus.

The setting therefore provided a wider trade and connectivity backdrop to talks focused primarily on security cooperation between Tbilisi and Baku.

Closer regional ties

The meeting comes as Georgia continues to develop relations with both China and Azerbaijan across several areas, including trade, transport and regional cooperation.

Against that backdrop, closer security cooperation between Georgia and Azerbaijan forms part of a broader relationship between the neighbouring South Caucasus countries.

Neither side has announced further details from the meeting, and no follow-up talks or formal agreements have so far been made public.

Read more: 

• China becomes Georgia’s top investor as foreign investment falls 23.2%
• Azerbaijan, Georgia among 11 countries to receive $400m to reduce border waiting times
• Georgia puts $7 billion plan behind Middle Corridor ambitions

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Azerbaijan Georgia railway silk road China SSSG Eurasia