A series of achievements have been achieved, and China and Iran have released a strong signal to strengthen economic and trade cooperation

Iranian President Rehi recently visited China. During the period, China and Iran exchanged in-depth views on promoting the development of bilateral economic and trade relations, and reached a series of positive results - signed agreements covering crisis management, tourism, communication and information technology, environment, international trade, intellectual property rights, agriculture, export, health care , media, sports and cultural heritage and more than 20 cooperation agreements.

Industry insiders believe that the above-mentioned achievements have released a strong signal of strengthening economic and trade cooperation between the two sides, and will effectively promote the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Iran to a new level.

The comprehensive cooperation plan is expected to accelerate the implementation

According to reports, one of the main purposes of Leahy's visit is to promote the implementation of the comprehensive cooperation plan signed by China and Iran in 2021, especially in the economic and trade field.

Ding Long, a professor at the Middle East Institute of Shanghai International Studies University, told a reporter from International Business Daily that although this was the first visit to China during Leahy's tenure, in fact, the high-level contacts between China and Iran have always "maintained the rhythm" in recent years, especially under the leadership of the head of state's diplomacy. , China-Iran relations have shown a momentum of comprehensive development.

In 2022, the trade volume between China and Iran will reach 15.8 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 7%. China has been Iran's largest trading partner for 10 consecutive years. Lu Jin, an expert on Iranian issues at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in an interview with a reporter from the International Business Daily that for many years, Iran has been an important trading partner of China in the Middle East, a source of crude oil imports, a project contracting market, and an investment destination. China is Iran's largest trading partner, largest export market for oil and non-oil products, and an important source of foreign capital. In recent years, the two sides have given full play to their complementary advantages in economy and trade, and carried out a series of cooperation in transportation infrastructure through the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", making positive contributions to the economic and social development of the two countries and the region.

"In the past few years, China-Iran trade has advanced through interaction and achieved good results, but objectively speaking, the volume is not large. Compared with the US$230 billion trade volume between China and the members of the Gulf Arab States Cooperation Council, it is not a heavyweight Top. To further strengthen trade cooperation, we need to accelerate the implementation of the China-Iran comprehensive cooperation plan in the future.” Sun Degang, director of the Center for Middle East Studies at Fudan University, told the reporter of International Business Daily.

Sun Degang analyzed that in the field of economy and trade, the biggest feature of the two countries is their strong complementarity. "China has a complete industrial system that can help Iran upgrade its technologies in energy extraction, infrastructure, and agriculture; Iran's oil and gas reserves rank among the top in the world. China is the world's largest energy importer, and the two countries have a large space for cooperation in energy supply and demand."

In addition, Lu Jin said that in recent years, Iran has vigorously developed the manufacturing industry and knowledge-based economy, and attached importance to exchanges with China in the fields of technology and science. The prospects for cooperation are broad.

Avoiding risks and laying a solid foundation for economic and trade cooperation

In addition to promoting the implementation of the China-Iran comprehensive cooperation plan, promoting high-level exchanges between the two countries, increasing political mutual trust, and consolidating the foundation of bilateral economic and trade cooperation are another major focus of Leahy's visit.

"Under the complicated international situation, both China and Iran have the realistic need to deepen cooperation, but they also face multiple risks and challenges." The promotion of cooperation with Iran has created many interference factors; in addition, the relationship between Arab countries and Iran is relatively complicated, which also brings certain interference to Sino-Iranian economic and trade cooperation.

In terms of financial risks, Sun Degang said: "The main problem is that Iran is excluded from SWIFT (International Fund Settlement System), which makes its financial payments unable to be in line with international standards, and brings certain challenges to the cooperation between Chinese and Iranian companies."

Ding Long said that despite many challenges, China and Iran have strong political mutual trust and willingness to cooperate, and their economies are highly complementary. Leahy's visit has demonstrated his firm determination to "look east". Under the new situation, the two sides will jointly study how to deepen cooperation, avoid risks, and promote the steady and long-term development of China-Iran practical cooperation.

Facing challenges, opportunities lie on the side. Sun Degang believes that in the future, China-Iran economic and trade cooperation is expected to achieve greater development under the multilateral platform. Prior to his visit to China, Leahy signed an order requiring the implementation of the law on Iran's accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. China and Iran can strengthen coordination and cooperation under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which will help Iran successfully complete the docking with the "Belt and Road" initiative. At the regional level, China and Arab countries are working together to build a China-Arab community with a shared future, which will help ease political relations between Iran and the Gulf Arab countries, and promote political mutual trust through economic and trade exchanges. In addition, Iran's withdrawal from SWIFT has created conditions for promoting the cross-border settlement of RMB between China and Iran.

"I believe that under the joint guidance of the leaders of the two countries, the trade volume between China and Iran is expected to exceed 30 billion US dollars in the near future." Sun Degang is full of confidence in this.