TEHRAN — On Sunday, the chairman and members of the Iran-China parliamentary friendship group held a symposium with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian and his economic and consular deputies, as well as other senior officials of the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

In the meeting, the foreign minister listened to the views of the delegates and described the Tehran-Beijing relations as “strategic”.

Amir Abdollahian underlined the role of parliamentary diplomacy in the platform of the Iran-China parliamentary friendship group and outlined the latest state of the Sino-Iranian relations and also Iran's approach to the implementation of the roadmap for ties with China.

Meanwhile, Amirabadi Farahani, chairman of the parliamentary friendship group, thanked Amir Abdollahian for his attention to the role of parliament and people's representatives in overseeing the mainstream of political relations, especially the Islamic Republic of Iran's relations with China.

Farahani reaffirmed the support of the friendship group for the expanding all-out ties with Beijing.

In the meeting, Mahdi Safari, the Deputy Minister for Economic Diplomacy, also outlined various aspects of Iran’s economic ties with China and Pakistan and gave an update on the situation in the border markets of Iran and Pakistan. 

He further answered questions from lawmakers.

Meanwhile, Reza Zabib, an assistant to the foreign minister and director general for Asia and Oceania Affairs of the Foreign Ministry explained the latest state of ties between Tehran and Beijing.

In March 2021, Iran and China signed a strategic partnership to increase cooperation and trade relations over the next 25 years. Under the agreement, the Chinese will invest heavily in Iran's oil industry, the National Iranian Gas Export Company and the National Iranian Petrochemical Company, as well as Iran's transportation infrastructure.