TEHRAN – In a meeting between the head of the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA) Mahmoud Najafi-Arab and Cong Peiwu, the ambassador of the People's Republic of China in Iran, the two sides stressed promoting trade ties and the exchange of business delegations between the two countries.

In this meeting, which was also attended by China’s commercial attaché and the secretary general of the TCCIMA, the two sides discussed the creation of a green line for obtaining visas for economic operators who are members of the TCCIMA, and the Chinese ambassador announced the readiness of this embassy to facilitate the process of issuing business visas.

As the TCCIMA portal reported, during the talks, Najafi-Arab referred to the activities of the China Affairs Office at the TCCIMA and the launch of the website of this chamber in Chinese and mentioned some of the common areas for economic cooperation between the private sector of the two countries.

According to the official, one of the obstacles in the way of the development of economic cooperation between the two sides is financial and banking problems for which the governments of the two countries must find a solution.

Najafi-Arab also pointed to the joint investment of the two countries in producing pharmaceutical raw materials in Iran as a win-win economic opportunity for the two countries and reminded that considering the cheap energy and raw materials in Iran, the production of these products in Iran can be attractive for the manufacturers of medicine in China, who have a large share in the trade of such products in the world.

Further in the meeting, Cong Peiwu announced the readiness of the Chinese embassy to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the Tehran Chamber of Commerce in promoting cooperation between the private sectors of the two countries, introducing each other's market information and resolving cooperation disputes between the companies of both sides.

He stated that the President of China has recently announced and unveiled a part of China's economic reforms at an important summit in this country, and noted that new opportunities for economic cooperation between China and Iran can be seen in this regard.

During a meeting between the Chinese ambassador in Tehran and Iran’s Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Abdolnaser Hemmati at the place of the ministry on October 14, the Iranian official emphasized the importance of implementing the memorandums of understanding (MOUs) signed between Iran and China.

In this meeting, Hemmati followed up on the negotiations that took place during the BRICS Economic Ministers' Meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, stressing the importance of implementing the MOUs between the two countries.

He also considered the two countries’ Joint Economic Committee as a suitable platform for negotiations on economic, trade, and investment cooperation, and welcomed the holding of the 19th Joint Economic Committee in Tehran.

Cong Peiwu, for his part, stated that Beijing aims to expedite the implementation of the MOUs and enhance practical cooperation to deepen relations between the two countries.

Both sides also highlighted the commitment of their statesmen to comprehensive development, expressing hope that consultations between senior officials of Iran and China will continue to expand bilateral relations.

In late September, Hemmati had also met and held talks with Chinese Minister of Finance Lan Fo’an, during which the two sides emphasized the implementation of the two countries’ long-term strategic partnership plan.

Hemmati met with Fo’an on the sidelines of the 9th ministerial meeting of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) members in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

In addition to the issues related to the cooperation of the two countries in AIIB, the two sides discussed the most important issues related to bilateral relations, especially the follow-up of the results of previous agreements.

Holding the two countries’ Joint Economic Committee meeting in the new future was another topic discussed by the two officials.

In this meeting, the ministers of the two countries emphasized that Iran and China have put a more serious and deeper implementation of the comprehensive long-term strategic plan of the two countries on their agenda and will continue this path in the official interactions of the two countries until concrete practical achievements are reached.

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 MOUs 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 former 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.

Iran and China also signed 20 memoranda of understanding in the presence of the presidents of the two countries in Beijing in mid-February, 2023.

EF/MA

Photo: TCCIMA Head Mahmoud Najafi-Arab (L) and Chinese Ambassador to Iran Cong Peiwu