Officials of China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and Iran’s Khorasan Razavi Province explored avenues of cooperation and investment in addition to expansion of the Silk Road Economic Belt.
Chairman of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Shohrat Zakir and Khorasan Razavi Governor Alireza Rashidian discussed areas of potential cooperation during a meeting in Mashhad on Sunday.
The Chinese official pointed to the importance of the economic belt in expanding Iran-China trade ties and said the project will create significant opportunities for bilateral investment, as it will connect various Eurasian countries, Mehr News Agency reported.
The Silk Road Economic Belt, also known as the Belt and Road Project, is a development strategy and framework proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 that focuses on connectivity and cooperation among countries primarily in Eurasia.
The main purpose of this project is the integration of the region into a cohesive economic area through building infrastructure, increasing cultural exchanges and broadening trade.
Zakir noted Xinjiang Province’s investment potential in fields such as cement and steel production, halal food production and tourism, and invited Iranian investors to make investments.
According to the Chinese official, Iran-China trade value currently stands at $60 billion per year and annual trade between Khorasan Razavi and Xinjiang Province accounts for about $1 billion of this figure. “Through further cooperation, this figure can potentially increase by tenfold,” he said.
Rashidian welcomed the prospect of closer ties with Xinjiang Province and said the two provinces can cooperate in building cement factories, power plants, tractors and establishing a direct Urumqi-Mashhad flight to expand tourism ties.
The Iranian official added that through the establishment of Xinjiang-Uzbekistan 200-kilometer-long railroad, Iran and China can also connect and further link the Silk Road to Europe.
Mayor of Urumqi–the capital of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region–Ilham Sha Bier, who was also accompanying Zakir in the visit, met with his counterpart in Mashhad, Seyyed Solat Mortazavi, later in the day.
