Beijing Pursues Long-Term Strategic Ties With Tehran

China regards expansion of relations with Iran as highly important and pursues a policy of "long-term strategic" ties with Tehran, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Monday. 
"Despite developments at the regional and international level, Beijing's determination for maintaining friendly relations with Tehran will not change," Song Tao, the head of International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China, said in a meeting with First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri in Tehran. 
Jahangiri said top Iranian officials have placed expansion of relations with China on their agenda, IRNA reported. 
Song pointed to challenges facing oil and energy collaborations, hoping that the two countries would soon find ways of addressing the problems and expedite the implementation of their joint projects.