Iran, China agree $A859-billion trade deal

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) meets with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, Jan. 23, 2016.

According to official Chinese data, trade volumes between the two countries reached $52 billion in 2014, representing a 70-percent increase on the previous year.

Both countries signed 17 accords yesterday, including agreements on a revival of the ancient Silk Road trade route and cooperation in peaceful nuclear energy.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani described the visit by the Chinese leader as “historic and correct”.

Iran and Europe are about to ink their first major trade deal in years when President Hassan Rouhani visits France on Wednesday.

Years of sanctions, due to the country’s nuclear program, have left Iran with one of the world’s oldest aircraft fleets, which it is eager to modernize.

“We need to share views on crucial matters like Iraq, Yemen and Syria as well as the interests of the two countries in the United Nations (UN) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO)”, added the Chinese president.

According to Iranian media, more than a third of Iran’s foreign trade is with China.

In history, there had been no wars or disputes between the two nations, and the two nations had conducted time-honored friendly exchanges and honest cooperation, which date back to 2,000 years ago thanks to the Silk Road, Xi said.

China’s openness to Iran, though, is not new. They did not give details of their goal of developing relations worth $600bn over the next decade. He called Iran a “natural partner” in implementing the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. “We have also agreed today to raise our relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership and issued a corresponding statement”, RIA Novosti quotes him as saying.

The Iranian president said that he and President Xi also discussed the monetary, banking and investment issues as well as long-term contracts on energy, railways, ports and technology parks construction and expansion of cooperation in industrial, mining and tourism sectors. He said Iran stands ready to play a greater role in the Belt and Road Initiative. Some of that tension has thawed lately, though, as evidenced by the recent lifting of global sanctions on Iran after it was determined Tehran has done what’s necessary to comply with a landmark nuclear deal. “We would just hope that, just as China has played a very constructive role throughout this process, that China will continue to play that role in all of its engagement with the Iranian Government”, says U.S. Ambassador Stephan Mull, Lead Coordinator for Iran Nuclear Implementation at the State Department.

A recently signed agreement allows Chinese banks to open branches in Iran, while others underline high-speed railroads, fiber-optic communication, etc., Deputy Chairperson of Iran-China Joint Chamber Fatemeh Bayat said.