Iran’s commercial exchanges with its leading trade partner, China, reached $4.04 billion during the first three months of 2023, registering a 5.1% increase compared with the corresponding period of the year before.
Latest data released by China’s General Administration of Customs show Iran’s exports totaled $1.13 billion during the period, indicating a 41.3% year-on-year decrease.
In return, China exported $2.91 billion worth of goods to Iran, registering a 51.9% YOY rise.
Bilateral trade hit $1.94 billion in March 2023 with Iran’s exports at $445.22 million and imports at $1.49 billion.
According to China’s General Administration of Customs, Iran’s trade with China in 2022 stood at $15.79 billion, registering a 7% increase compared with the year before.
Iran’s exports totaled $6.35 billion last year, indicating a 2.3% year-on-year decrease, while China exported $9.44 billion worth of commodities to Iran, registering a 14.3% increase.
Iran’s Largest Trading Partner for 10 Consecutive Years
China has remained Iran's largest trading partner for 10 consecutive years ending 2022, according to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi paid a three-day state visit to China starting Feb. 14. During the visit, Tehran and Beijing signed a number of bilateral cooperation documents in the fields of agriculture, trade, tourism, environmental protection, health, disaster relief, culture and sports, Xinhua reported.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Raisi in Beijing where the two leaders agreed on deepening China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership.
“Beijing will unswervingly develop friendly cooperation with Iran, regardless of how the international and regional situation changes,” the Chinese president said.
“China has always viewed and developed its relations with Iran from a strategic perspective.”
The Iranian president headed a delegation, including the new central bank governor and six members of Raisi's Cabinet, including the ministers of economy, petroleum, foreign affairs and trade.
The documents would include agreements in the field of transportation worth $12 billion, which include projects like the high-speed rail link between Tehran and Mashhad, and investment in the Imam Khomeini Airport City.
Investment in Iran's southeastern Makran Coast and the purchase of Iranian oil are also included in the documents, Caspian News reported.
Raisi's visit serves as an example of the high level of mutual trust between China and Iran, as well as a milestone in their bilateral ties, CGTN wrote.
During Raisi's visit, China and Iran exchanged views on promoting bilateral economic and trade relations, and reached a series of positive results.
China has announced its willingness to work with Iran to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state in economic and trade fields, deepen pragmatic cooperation in other fields, import more Iranian products and continue cooperation in building the Belt and Road Initiative.
It has promised to strengthen multilateral cooperation between the two countries under the framework of Shanghai Cooperation Organization and inject new growth impetus into deepening the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership.
25-Year Cooperation Deal
China and Iran have announced plans to strengthen ties in the fields of energy and infrastructure, as they have launched a 25-year cooperation agreement.
The landmark agreement, which was signed in March 2021 and entered into force on Jan. 14, 2022, will see the two countries expand cooperation in the fields of energy, infrastructure, production capacity, science, technology, medicine and healthcare, according to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry.
Bilateral cooperation will also be expanded to third-party markets in the fields of agriculture, fisheries and cybersecurity.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told Xinhua that Tehran “looks forward to learning from China’s development experience and advanced technology”.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi also reiterated China’s position on Iran’s nuclear deal, to which it is a signatory, saying the US bore most of the responsibility for months of stagnation in talks about reviving the deal, which it unilaterally quit in 2018.
The cooperation document was discussed for the first time in 2015 when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Iran. The agreement reportedly pledges Chinese investments of $400–600 billion.
Accession to SCO
A memorandum of obligations on Iran's Shanghai Cooperation Organization membership was signed at the 22nd meeting of the Council of Heads of State of SCO held on Sept. 16, 2022.
“China congratulated Iran on its upcoming full membership in SCO and said it is willing to strengthen coordination and cooperation within the SCO framework,” Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
Xi stressed that China supports Iran in safeguarding its national sovereignty and national dignity, and is willing to work with Iran to uphold the principle of non-interference in internal affairs and safeguard the common interests of developing countries.
Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani praised the signing of the memorandum, saying that it was "another important and lasting development in strengthening good neighborhood policy and regional convergence, and deepening multilateralism”.
Iran’s permanent membership was approved during the 21st meeting of the Council of Heads of State of SCO in the Tajik capital Dushanbe in September 2021. The country obtained observer status in the organization in June 2005 and applied for full membership in 2008.
SCO is a Eurasian political, economic and security organization founded in 2001. The current members of the organization are China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Its observer countries are Afghanistan, Belarus, Iran and Mongolia while partner countries are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Turkey and Sri Lanka. The current SCO summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, is expected to finalize the admission of Iran and grant the status of a dialogue partner to Egypt, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
“This is a very important day for Iran and SCO,” SCO Secretary-General Zhang Ming told reporters at the signing ceremony.
"The Iranian entry into the group of member states will strengthen the Shanghai Cooperation Organization," he said.
Russian presidential aide, Yury Ushakov, said Iran will be able to participate in the SCO summit as a full member of the organization as early as next year.
"Iran will participate as a full member already at the next summit, which will be held in India in 2023 … There will be nine members," he added.
Acceptance of Iran as a full member of SCO will open up a new horizon of multilateralism, reads an article published by The Diplomat.
“It will be beneficial not only for Iran but for the whole region. Many analysts argued that even if Iran may not be able to reap many immediate benefits from joining the SCO, it indicates Iran’s willingness to pursue stronger relations with China and Russia, the organization’s two most powerful members,” the article said.
“China and Iran have established a wide-ranging and close relationship over the past few decades, with focus on China’s energy requirements and Iran’s resources in addition to considerable non-energy economic links, arms sales, defense cooperation and geostrategic balancing with the United States … Joining SCO is a success for Iran on both economic as well as political fronts. Since 2018, when the US ex-president, Donald Trump, pulled out of Tehran’s nuclear agreement with major powers, including Russia and China, the Iranian economy suffered critically. Therefore, inclusion in SCO will open up new avenues for trade and cooperation with neighboring states which, in return, help Iran to solve its economic challenges.”
