TEHRAN- Chinese ambassador to Tehran said this year is a good year for Iran-China relations.

Chang Hua made the remarks in a meeting with the members of the Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce and a number of Iranian traders and businessmen, who conduct trade with China, held at the place of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture (ICCIMA) in Tehran.

Referring to China's growing economy, the envoy said this year is a good year for Iran-China relations, adding that during the meeting between the leaders of the two countries, important agreements were made, including the implementation of the 25-year cooperation agreement between the two countries, and a number of bilateral cooperation documents were signed in the fields of agriculture, tourism, culture, relief, and rescue, etc.

“In 2022, the value of trade between the two countries reached $15.8 billion, which has increased by seven percent compared to the same period of the previous year. China has been Iran's largest trading partner for 10 consecutive years. Accordingly, we welcome and support the private sector of Iran to attend Chinese trade fairs and increase cooperation”, the envoy stated.

Majid-Reza Hariri, the head of the Iran-China Joint Chamber, also emphasized the desire of Iran's private sector to develop business relations with China and said there are obstacles in this direction. Among other things, issuing visas for Iranian businessmen, especially for their presence at trade fairs in China, is associated with problems, and facilitating it will definitely help the development of relations between the two sides.

According to the data released by China’s customs administration, the value of trade between Iran and China stood at $2.098 billion in the first two months of 2023.

Based on the released data, the two-month trade between the two countries fell 17 percent as the figure was $2.536 billion in the first two months of 2022.

According to the data previously released by China’s customs administration, the value of trade between Iran and China increased by seven percent in 2022 compared to the previous year.

Based on China’s customs data, the Islamic Republic and China traded $15.795 billion worth of commodities in 2022, $1.035 billion more than the figure for 2021.

As reported, China's exports to Iran grew by 14 percent in the period under review compared to the preceding year to reach $9.44 billion. The Asian country exported $8.258 billion worth of goods to Iran in 2021.

The value of Iran’s non-oil exports to China, however, registered a two-percent decrease in 2022, reaching $6.355 billion. Iran exported $6.502 billion worth of goods to China in 2021.

Iran's share of China's total global trade last year was only 0.25 percent. China’s trade with the world reached $6.308 trillion in 2022, of which $3.593 trillion was the share of the country's exports and $2.715 trillion was related to imports. China's global trade grew by 4.4 percent last year.

Iran-China non-oil trade stood at $14.8 billion in 2021, according to China’s customs administration.

The value of trade between the two countries during 2021 declined by less than one percent in comparison to 2020 in which the figure was reported to be $14.9 billion.

China is one of Iran’s main trade partners that has maintained strong trade ties with the Islamic Republic despite the strict U.S. sanctions.

Iran and China officially signed the document for 25-year comprehensive cooperation in March 2021.

The document was signed between Iran’s former Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Iranian Foreign Ministry.

Back in December 2022, Iran and China finalized 16 memorandums of understanding (MOU) under the framework of the two countries’ strategic 25-year agreement.

The MOUs were signed in an Iran-China comprehensive cooperation program summit which was held in Tehran on December 13 in the presence of Iran’s First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber and China’s Vice Premier Hu Chunhua.

The summit was focused on four areas explored by four committees between the two countries with the aim of paving the way for the implementation of the 25-year agreement.

MA