Georgian PM’s Visit to China Highlights Beijing’s Growing Footprint in South Caucasus

China is a “role model for modernization” and a “champion of peace,” Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze declared during a visit to Shanghai in early November, where the two countries signed agreements to boost economic ties. The trip underscores how Tbilisi’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, is shifting away from the Euro-Atlantic community and toward Beijing. Tbilisi now views China as a source of both investment and diplomatic cover against Western criticism.

Visit Yields Upgrade of Economic Relations

The official purpose of Kobakhidze’s visit was to participate in the 8th China International Import Expo. While there, Kobakhidze met with Premier Li Qiang, alongside other Georgian and Chinese officials. The two sides pledged to expand cooperation across trade, transport, energy, and technology. Meanwhile, their economy ministers formally concluded negotiations to upgrade the 2017 China-Georgia Free Trade Agreement. They also signed multiple memoranda of understanding covering Georgia’s participation in China’s “Air Silk Road” initiative — Beijing’s aviation-logistics component of the Belt and Road initiative that integrates air-cargo routes and transport infrastructure into China’s global supply chain network — as well as collaboration on artificial intelligence and agricultural trade.

The two sides also discussed deepening financial cooperation and aligning payment systems by Georgian banks “actively applying to become direct participants” in China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS). While framed as a technical step to facilitate trade, integration with CIPS, Beijing’s alternative to the Western SWIFT network, carries strategic implications. The system enables financial messaging and settlements independent of Western oversight, offering participants insulation from potential sanctions or regulatory restrictions. Georgia’s interest in joining it reflects a shift toward financial hedging and an anticipation of future economic pressure as the country’s political trajectory moves further away from its Euro-Atlantic partners.

Tbilisi’s Growing Dependence on Beijing

Chinese readouts framed Georgia as a partner in the “Global South” and a supporter of Beijing’s global initiatives. China’s expanding role in Georgia’s strategic infrastructure, including the Anaklia deep-sea port and other transport projects, positions China as a key player in Georgia’s economic future. For Tbilisi, Chinese capital offers a pragmatic substitute for Western financing, which has slowed amid concerns about democratic backsliding and anti-Western rhetoric.

Kobakhidze’s visit reflects Georgia’s overall geopolitical realignment under the Georgian Dream government, which now portrays cooperation with China as a means of preserving “strategic autonomy.” In reality, the current approach deepens Georgia’s dependence on Beijing.

China’s strategy in Georgia follows the playbook Beijing has pursued in countries around the globe, with investments in infrastructure leading to closer economic ties and greater political sway. By embedding itself in Georgia’s economy, Beijing is expanding its influence in the Black Sea region with minimal Western pushback. Georgia’s participation in CIPS would deepen China’s foothold and, over time, could erode the potency of current and future Western sanctions.

Persuasion Has Failed; Time for Pressure

In Georgia, Washington and Brussels no longer face a government open to persuasion; they face an entrenched network of elites whose survival depends on an authoritarian government. The Western response should therefore center on pressure, not partnership. The United States should impose targeted sanctions against additional Georgian Dream leaders, security officials, and financiers responsible for democratic erosion and coordination with China and other authoritarian states, especially Russia. Parallel measures should target Chinese state-owned and Russian-linked firms involved in strategic Georgian infrastructure, including the strategic Anaklia port, the energy sector, and telecommunications.

Sanctions alone will not alter Georgia’s trajectory, but they can isolate the regime’s enablers, deter further entrenchment of Chinese capital, and signal that the West will not tolerate authoritarian capture in a partner state — which Georgia technically still is. Simultaneously, the West should deepen support for independent media, civil-society groups, and alternative regional transport projects that bypass Beijing’s control.

Keti Korkiya is a research analyst in the Russia Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). For more analysis from Keti and FDD, please subscribe HERE. Follow FDD on X @FDD. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.