TEHRAN – Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi departed Tehran late Monday for Beijing, leading a large delegation to China at the invitation of President Xi Jinping.
Speaking to reporters before leaving the Iranian capital, Raisi said Iran and China have similar views on fighting unilateralism at the international level.
“We have good global and international contacts and have common positions with China on countering unilateralism and maintaining our political independence,” he said.
“These positions have brought us close together and we have good cooperation with China in political and economic areas as well as with regard to various issues at regional and global levels,” Raisi added.
The three-day trip is Raisi’s first state visit to the Asian economic giant and the first by an Iranian president in 20 years.
The president met with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei before starting the visit to brief him on his working plan and the meetings he is going to hold in Beijing.
Ayatollah Khamenei expressed satisfaction with the arrangements that have been made, wishing the president success.
Raisi and Xi had first met as presidents on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan in September. China had supported Iran’s now-successful bid to become a full member of the organization.
The Iranian president, who assumed office in August 2021, is accompanied by a wide-ranging team, including the new central bank governor, pointing to his priorities during the trip.
Six members of Raisi’s cabinet, including ministers of economy, petroleum, foreign affairs, trade, transport and urban development, and agriculture are also part of the delegation.
Raisi will hold a meeting with Xi, followed by negotiations between delegations that are expected to lead to the signing of several agreements in the presence of the presidents.
Muhammad Jamshidi, Raisi’s deputy for political affairs, told state television on Sunday that the main goal of the trip is to “finalize the operational mechanisms” of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement the two countries signed in 2021.
In early 2022, Foreign Minister Hussein Amir-Abdollahian had said the agreement had entered the implementation stage but no major contracts or projects have been announced under the agreement so far as Iran remains under heavy United States sanctions.
China remains Iran’s largest trade partner, with Iranian customs data for the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year that ends