On 13th June, 2025, the second round of bilateral market access negotiations between China and Azerbaijan regarding Azerbaijan’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Beijing. The meeting was co-chaired by Vice Minister of Commerce of China Yan Dong and Deputy Minister of Economy of Azerbaijan and WTO Chief Negotiator Samad Bashirli. The two sides reached a consensus on all the requests and offers in the areas of trading in goods and services and agreed to substantively conclude the bilateral market access negotiations between China and Azerbaijan on Azerbaijan’s accession to the WTO. This milestone marks a significant step toward Azerbaijan’s accession to the WTO process and demonstrates China’s strong support for Azerbaijan’s early accession to the organization.

Azerbaijan’s accession process has spanned 28 years to date. The country is currently engaged in bilateral market access negotiations with 19 WTO members, including China, the United States, the European Union and Russia. China is the first major developing member to have completed bilateral negotiations with Azerbaijan.