Tehran, Beijing Confer on Expansion of Customs, Trade Ties

High-ranking Iranian and Chinese officials in a meeting in Tehran reviewed avenues to further broaden relations between the two countries in customs and trade fields.

Chinese Ambassador to Iran Chang Hua in a meeting with Iran's Customs Administration governor Mehdi Mirashrafi examined a new plan to expand customs cooperation and facilitate trade between the two countries.

During the meeting, Mirsharafi pointed to strong trade relations between China and Iran, offering proposals to bolster trade exchanges between the two states.

He proposed issues like exchanging customs information in the framework of training both sides' employees, strengthening Silk Road, creation of joint trade gate and exchanging X-ray images by both sides as well as holding meetings every six months to access better and faster results.

Hua, for his part, appreciated Iran's Customs Administration's officials, and underlined that Iran is among the largest trade partners of China, so expansion of such ties is so important to China.

In a relevant development in September, Iran’s Labor Minister Mohammad Shariatmadari, in a meeting with Hua, described bilateral ties between the two countries as constructive, and called for strategic cooperation in bilateral and international arenas.

During the meeting with Chang Hua, Shariatmadari described Iran-China relations in the international arena as constructive and voiced Iran's readiness for exchanging delegations.

He added the countries enjoy old and friendly relations which could be strategic at bilateral and international levels.

Referring to President Hassan Rouhani's negotiation with Chinese officials at the meeting of the Council of Heads of States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), he underlined that the negotiations could be regarded as a roadmap for both sides' cooperation.

He expressed Iran's readiness for exchanging specialized delegations to implement the terms of the signed MoUs.

Hua, for his part, stated that both sides' friendship has been long-lasting and the Silk Road has linked them together.

He also announced his country's readiness for developing relations, noting that China has tendency to cooperate with Iran in labor and social security.