Dr. Rashad Karimov is a Senior Adviser to the Director General of Port of Baku. Previously he worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Analysis Department of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He is also Founder and Chairman of the Public Union for Azerbaijan-China Cooperation. His areas of expertise include Chinese domestic and foreign policy with an emphasis on Central Asia and the Caucasus regions. Previously, Dr. Karimov served as an Assistant to the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to China. Dr. Karimov holds a PhD in Diplomacy from China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing (2008) and an MA in International Policy (2004) and BA in Chinese Language and Culture (2000) from Beijing Language and Culture University at the United Nations Center. In 2013, Dr. Karimov was awarded a scholarship to attend the International Seminar for Young Scholars on Economic Development Issues at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Dr. Karimov is the author first Azerbaijani-Chinese dictionary as well as of several books and articles on China and Azerbaijan.