Official: Results of Iran-China agreements ‘will be visible soon’

Recent agreements reached between Iran and China will become operational within the next two months, the effects of which “will be visible soon”, the head of Trade Promotion Organization of Iran says.

Alireza Peyman Pak on Monday touched on President Ebrahim Raeisi’s landmark visit to Beijing last week, saying preparations for the trip had been made several months ago with the aim of developing trade and economic relations with China.

Officials have said that 20 substantial agreements were inked during the trip under the 25-year comprehensive cooperation document Iran and China signed in 2021. Peyman Pak, who has also been active in efforts to boost economic ties with Russia, said the agreements were worth at least $3.5 billion.

According to the official, development of trade and economic relations between Iran and China is one of the important priorities of the Raeisi administration, given that China is currently one of the largest economies in the world.

For the first state visit by an Iranian president to China in more than 20 years, President Raeisi took a large trade and finance delegation to Beijing. He was accompanied by the country's foreign minister and the ministers for the economy, roads and transportation, and oil. Also attending were the minister for industry, mining and trade, as well as the minister for agriculture.

In Beijing the president reportedly had a meeting with representatives of several large Chinese companies,

The trip marked a raft of agreements, memoranda and contracts being signed between the two sides for development of various relations in tourism, mining, railway, commercial, machinery, industrial and mining equipment sectors.

Peyman Pak said China is one of the largest consumers of mineral products in the world, adding discussions were held on the participation of Chinese companies in developing Iran’s extractives sector.

Iran holds about 7 percent of the world's proven mineral reserves estimated at 60 billion tonnes, which include 68 types of minerals. However, the extractives industry in Iran is underdeveloped and major investment is needed to bring the sector out of the cold. 

Iran and China, he said, reached “good agreements” on cooperating in the automotive industry, including on transfer of technology, improvement of production and supply of parts as well as in the rolling stock sector.

“Within the next one to two months, most of these memorandums, agreements and contracts will enter the implementation phase,” Peyman Pak said.

Both Iran and China have had tense relations with the United States and sought to forge a counterweight to American hegemonism alongside Russia.

Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed Beijing's "solidarity" with Iran, saying he supports the Islamic Republic "in resisting unilateralism and hegemonism". 

The 25-year agreement dubbed the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, covers a variety of economic activity from oil and mining to promoting industrial activity in Iran, as well as transportation and agricultural collaborations

China has supported Iran’s successful bid to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the powerful BRICS – which groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – which is still considering Tehran’s request.

The Asian powerhouse is Iran's largest trading partner. According to the 10-month statistics of Iranian customs authorities, Iran's exports to China stood at $12.6 billion, while it imported $12.7 billion worth of goods from China.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk