Iran Exports to China Up 27% in First Three Quarters of 2017

The value of Iran's exports to China during the nine months to Sept. 30, 2017, witnessed a 27.5% rise compared with last year's corresponding period to stand at $13.88 billion.

A total of $27 billion worth of goods were exchanged between the two countries during the period.

With $8.74 billion, oil took the lion's share of Iran's exports to China, which imports 633,000 barrels of crude from Iran on a daily basis and is Iran's biggest oil customer, ISNA reported.

Iran's non-oil exports during the nine months registered a 28.1% and 27.8% rise in tonnage and value respectively.

China is Iran's top trading partner.

During a trip to Iran after the 2015 nuclear deal, Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on a wide-ranging, 25-year plan to increase bilateral trade with Iran by over tenfold to $600 billion in the next decade.

China has considerable stakes in Iran. The two countries have economic, trade and energy ties, with China relying on oil imports from Iran while Tehran looks to Beijing for investment, particularly stemming from its sprawling "Belt and Road" trade and infrastructure plan.

Chinese companies have financed major energy projects in Iran, including the development of huge oilfields in Yadavaran and North Azadegan.

In July, state-owned China National Petroleum Corp took a 30% stake in a project to develop South Pars in Iran–the largest natural gas field in the world.

Beijing also signed a $3 billion deal to help upgrade Iran’s oil refineries in January. That includes a contract between China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, and the National Iranian Oil Company to expand Iran’s major Abadan Oil Refinery, which is more than a century old.

Located at a pivotal point on China’s Belt and Road initiative, Iran has become a major part of the country's expansive infrastructure investment plan.

One key project is a $2.56 billion high-speed railroad from Tehran to the eastern city of Mashhad, with China providing a loan of $1.6 billion to fund the electrification of the 926-km railroad. That was the first foreign-backed project after Iran signed the nuclear deal with six major powers, including China.

Export-Import Bank of China said it had financed some 26 projects in Iran, providing around $8.5 billion in loans.

Chinese companies have been involved in highway building, mining and steel production in the country.

And China Export and Credit Insurance Corp, or Sinosure, also signed a memorandum of understanding with Iran in May to help Chinese companies invest in Iranian projects.