CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VIII (2) ContEurVIII2 | Page 7

SAREN ABGARYAN
foreign policy, 12 and a short article by Alexanyan makes observations on
trade relations between Armenia and China from 2000 to 2013. 13
The lack of research demonstrates that the academic discussion on
Armenia-China relations, especially after the commencement of the Belt
and Road Initiative (BRI), is highly underrepresented. 14 There is merely
one book, written by Mher Sahakyan that focuses on Armenia’s potential
in participating in the BRI. 15 It is the first substantial study about China-
Armenia relations in the context of the BRI.
This contribution is intended to fill in the gap of emphasizing the
importance of Armenia’s intensified cooperation with China in the
context of the BRI (Section 2) and invites Yerevan and Beijing to
renegotiate the currently existing Armenia-China investment treaty for
providing foreign investors a higher level of treatment in their territories
(Section 3 & 4).
Belt and Road Initiative & China-Armenia relations
The Chinese “One Belt One Road Initiative” (OBOR) (also
commonly referred as “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI)) is the most
significant and ambitious foreign policy goal created by China to date,
which is set to draw bigger investment and trade scale than the Economic
Co-Operation Act (better known as the Marshal Plan) had more than
seventy years ago. 16 The BRI is the largest development plan in modern
history. It has a strong infrastructure building program underneath with a
goal of connecting China with its neighboring countries all the way to
Western Europe. 17 In addition to financing support, investments, and

12
Gor Sargsyan, Činastani artak’in k’aġa k’akanut’yan aranjnahatkut’yunnerë ew čin-
haykakan haraberutyunner ë (1991-2010 t’ t’) (in Armenian), Peculiarities of China's
foreign policy and china-armenian relations (1991-2010), PhD Thesis, Institute of Orient-
al Studies, NAS RA (2012).
13 Lusine Alexanyan, Hay-činakan miǰpetakan arevtratntesakan haraberu t’yunnerë ew
dranc’ herankarnerë (in Armenian), Armenian-Chinese Inter-State Trade and Economic
Relations and Prospects, EPH UGY Gitakan hodvacneri joxovacu, 1.7 (10) (2015): 70-75.
14 See e.g, Mger Saakjan, "Perspektivy Vovlechenija Armenii V Kitajskuju Iniciativu
‘Odin Pojas, Odin Put'” (in Russian), 21-j Vek No. 4(45) (2017); Mher Sahakyan,
Metak’si č ̣anaparhi olorannerum (in Armenian), On the windings of Silk Road, Globus 5
(84) (2017).
15 Mher Sahakyan, Činastani Mek goti, mek č
anaparh naxajernutyunë ew Hayastanë (in
Armenian), China's One Belt, One Road Initiative and Armenia (Yerevan: Noravank,
2018).
16 "Will China’s Belt and Road Initiative outdo the Marshall Plan? How China’s
Infrastructure Projects Around the World Stack Up Against America’s Plan to Rebuild
Post-war Europe." The Economist, March 8, 2018, https://www.economist.com/finance-
and-economics/2018/03/08/will-chinas-belt-and-road-initiative-outdo-the-marshall-plan.
17 Peter Cai, "Understanding China’s Belt and Road Initiative," Lowy Institute for
International Policy (2017): 1-2.
7