China's influence in the South Caucasus will grow

Significance In April, the deputy minister of international relations of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee, Chen Zhou, visited Georgia to discuss bilateral relations. The trip marked a notable increase in Beijing's engagement with the South Caucasus. This was followed by the Georgian government’s approval of a Chinese consortium's bid to build a vast deep-sea port in Anaklia on the Black Sea. Impacts Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan will work on increasing transhipment across the Caspian Sea. Iran and Russia will continue to work on expanding the International North-South Trade Corridor, which partially runs via Azerbaijan. Armenia and Turkey will continue with their tacit rapprochement, which will open the border for commercial activities.