TEHRAN - The Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Tehran Xu Qisong has said his country’s investment in Iran increased by 150 percent in 2022, the portal of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) reported.

Speaking in a meeting with TCCIMA Secretary General Bahman Eshghi on Sunday, the official said the mentioned growth in investment has exceeded the average volume of Chinese investment in other countries.

In the meeting, Eshghi for his part stressed the need for further development of cooperation between the two sides in order to recognize the business opportunities of economic enterprises from the two countries.

He also underlined the importance of creating various platforms for smoothing trade and joint investments between economic operators and companies of the two countries.

Chinese ambassador to Tehran has 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 in early April.

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 reached $5.23 billion in the first four months of 2023.

Based on the released data, the four-month trade between the two countries increased by four percent as the figure was $5.02 billion in the first four months of 2022.

As reported, Iran’s exports to China in the mentioned four months faced a 39 percent decrease compared to the same period last year and reached $1.52 billion. In the same period last year, China imported $2.49 billion of goods from Iran.

During this period, China's exports to Iran, however, increased by 46 percent and reached $3.71 billion. China exported $2.53 billion worth of commodities to Iran during January-April last year.

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.

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.

EF/MA