First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri said Tehran welcomes investment by Chinese companies in oil and gas projects and is eager to expand trade relations with Beijing.
Jahangiri said Iran considers its relations with China as "very constructive", adding that Tehran has a long-term plan to meet China's energy needs, IRNA reported.
He made the remarks during a meeting with Meng Jianzhu, a member of the central committee of China’s Communist Party, in Tehran on Monday.
The vice president also said Tehran is fully prepared to cooperate with Beijing to realize the idea of the "Silk Road Economic Belt."
Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed in September that China and Central Asia join hands to build the "Silk Road Economic Belt" to boost cooperation.
The Silk Road is a historically important international trade route that connects East Asia to west covering a wide range of areas from China and India to the Mediterranean Sea.
Elsewhere, Jahangiri thanked China for adopting a positive stance on the ongoing nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany).
For his part, Meng touched on the rising volume of trade between Iran and China over the past year and said, "Two-way cooperation between Tehran and Beijing is growing faster than before," he added.
Security Cooperation
The Chinese envoy also held talks with Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli and the two sides discussed security issues and the campaign against terrorism, among other things.
Rahmani Fazli said both countries have enormous potential in order to develop partnerships on security matters as well as combating terrorism in the region and at international level.
He also underlined the "shared standpoint" from which Tehran and Beijing view various regional and international issues and called for joint cooperation between the relevant bodies in Iran and China, particularly in the area of fighting organized crimes.
