Trade With China Declines by 8.8 Percent to $7.8 Billion

Iran’s commercial exchanges with its leading trade partner, China, stood at $7.89 billion in the first seven months of 2021, registering an 8.8% decline compared with the corresponding period of 2020.
As per data provided by the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, Iran’s exports to China totaled $3.63 billion, indicating a 2.2% increase year-on-year.
In return, China exported $4.27 billion worth of commodities to Iran, indicating a 16.5% YOY decrease.
Trade between the two countries stood at $1.17 billion in July.
The decline in Iran-China trade is mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the two sides are taking measures to boost trade turnover back to its pre-coronavirus levels.
Iran is an important economic and trade partner of China in the Middle East. China’s trade with Iran dates back to the ancient Silk Road in the first century BC.
In recent years, the two countries have maintained regular high-level contacts and bilateral economic cooperation has continuously deepened. Iran is also an important overseas investment and project contracting market for China, besides being a key source of its energy imports, reads an article published by China Briefing. Excerpts follow: