Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi today (Saturday) signed a 25-year economic-strategic cooperation agreement with Iran. Details of the agreement have not yet been revealed, but the cooperation will include Chinese investments in Iran’s energy and infrastructure industries.
Upon signing the agreement, the President of Iran congratulated Hassan Rouhani On cooperation, saying: “Iran welcomes cooperation with China in the fight against terrorism and extremist factions. The common positions between Iran and China in the international arenas are evidence of the need for these reciprocal relations, United States intervention is not welcome here“.
A spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry announced during the Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit that “the document is a complete roadmap that includes political and economic clauses, designed to cover cooperation in trade, economy and transportation, with a special focus on the private sectors on both sides.”
Remember, both countries are subject to US sanctions and the agreement could actually reduce their impact. Also, the cooperation may hamper efforts on the part of the United States and European partners to bring Iran back to the nuclear deal signed in 2015. This is despite the fact that China itself has signed the agreement itself.
Last week, China’s trade minister announced that the country would try to ensure the implementation of the nuclear agreement, while protecting the countries’ legitimate interests. This is against the background of reports that Iran has transferred quantities of oil to China in recent months, despite data indicating that China has not imported Iranian oil. Also in 2016, China, which is Iran’s senior partner in trade, agreed to increase mutual trade between the parties more than tenfold.