This year's meeting calls on all countries to promote a shared future, push for exchanges among different cultures and lead the international community in the direction of culturalcommunication and coexistence.

The three-day meeting is expected to see nearly a thousand participants including government officials and scholars from around the world including China, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan,Poland, Italy, Egypt and other countries, as well as experts, entrepreneurs and media members.

In his congratulatory letter addressed to the to the Fifth Annual Conference of Taihu World Cultural Forum, Chinese President Xi Jinping said: “Cultural exchanges are an importantdriving force for progress in human civilization and peaceful development of the world.”

Deputy PM Ali Ahmadov read out a congratulatory letter of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to the Forum participants.

Noting great history of relations between the two countries, Ali Ahmadov emphasized that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to developing tieswith China in all spheres. “Built on solid foundations and based on friendship and mutual trust, Sino-Azerbaijani relations can be characterized as the relations of dynamic, multifaceted seriouspartnership.”

Ali Ahmadov hailed China's "One Belt, One Road" initiative, saying that it opens up new opportunities for deepening bilateral cooperation betweenthe two countries. He said Azerbaijan, as one of the first countries to support this initiative, is ready to contribute to its further development.

The Deputy PM highlighted the history of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He said thepolicy of aggression and ethnic cleansing carried out by Armenia against the people of Azerbaijan led to the occupation of 20 per cent of Azerbaijan’s territory and left more than one million refugees and IDPs. Ali Ahmadovsaid Azerbaijan hopes that justice will be ensured, the UN Security Council resolutions on the conflict will be fulfilled, historical lands of Azerbaijan will be liberated from Armenian occupation, and the country’s territorialintegrity will be restored.

Ali Ahmadov thanked China for supporting Azerbaijan`s fair stance on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

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