TEHAN -- China’s ambassador to Tehran has hailed the recent official visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to Beijing, saying it will help raise “strategic” cooperation between the two states to a “higher level”.
“I’m sure that this visit will effectively take the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Iran to a higher level and mark a new chapter in our bilateral relations,” Ambassador Chang Hua said in a special letter to IRNA news agency on Thursday.
Heading a high-ranking political and conomic delegation, President Raeisi visited China from February 14 to 16, meeting his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and other leaders to discuss strengthening of bilateral relations.
“The close strategic ties represent the historic choice of Iran and China as two ancient civilizations of East and West Asia,” the Chinese diplomat said. “As two independent countries, Iran and China expand their relations based on a spirit of mutual respect. The Two nations are considered honest strategic partners who deserve mutual trust.”
Hua said, “Regardless of changes in the international and regional situation, Beijing will remain determined to develop friendly cooperation with Tehran to take the comprehensive strategic partnership
between the two countries to a higher level amid unprecedented profound changes in the global situation.”
The visit, President Raisi’s first to China since taking office, marking the signing of 20 cooperation documents.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning after arriving in Tehran, Raisi said the visit was “fruitful” and the two sides held good discussions in the fields of energy, industry and trade, road and urban development.
Raisi said China welcomed Iran’s membership in the BRICS organization, saying the issue will be followed “seriously” by the foreign ministry so that Iran could benefit from the capacities of the important international bloc.
Iran and China signed a strategic 25-year partnership agreement in 2021 in defiance of unilateral sanctions against the two countries imposed by the United States. The deal officially documents the Sino-Iranian Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that had been announced during a visit by the Chinese president to Tehran in 2016. It sets the outlines of cooperation in political, cultural, security, defense, regional, and international domains for the next 25 years.