Iran, China agree to expand trade ties
Iran and China have agreed on new measures to further expand their trade relations, Finance and Economy Minister Ali Tayebnia has said on a visit to Beijing to finalize Tehran’s membership in an emerging Asian bank.
Tayebnia met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Finance Minister Lou Jiwei and the two sides stressed their will to take their economic cooperation to new levels, the Iranian media reported.
China is Iran’s biggest trade partner, with annual transactions standing at about $52 billion. New data released by China’s customs authorities show trade fell 34.5% to $15 billion in the five months since the beginning of 2015 versus the similar period a year ago.
China accepted Iran as a founding member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in April. On Monday, Tayebnia signed the bank’s articles of association at a ceremony in Beijing where 49 other countries also inked the charter.
The minister said Iran has a 1.6% stake in the $100 billion AIIB which has distributed shares among its members, each worth $100,000.
Tayebnia said the bank’s development plans have been devised so that many Asian countries would benefit from them.
“This bank can operate as a complementary, and not a rival, to other financial institutions in the world,” the Iranian minister said.
In his talks with Tayebnia, the Chinese president described the creation of AIIB as a historic step toward helping the world economy.
Xi said AIIB aimed to develop Asia’s infrastructure by tapping regional and trans-regional capacities.
In an interview with IRNA, Tayebnia outlined Iran’s opportunities for foreign investors who have shown an “unprecedented” interest in the country in recent months.
“Conditions for foreign investments in Iran are being seriously prepared” by the government, the minister added.
Tayebnia said Iran was discussing the use of local currencies in trade with its partners and ditching the dollar. Transactions in national currencies are already being done with a number of countries, he said.
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