Alwaght- Iranian President Sayyed Ebrahim Raeisi said on Monday Islamic Republic and China have similar views on fighting unilateralism at the international level.
Raeisi made the remarks while speaking to reporters before leaving Tehran for Beijing on a state visit to China.
He said both countries are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and this membership helped them have close ties with countries in the region and elsewhere in Asia.
He added that the SCO membership has finalized Iran’s connection to regional infrastructure and has provided Tehran with a good ground to cement its relations with Asian countries, including China.
“We have good global and international contacts and have common positions with China on countering unilateralism and [maintaining our] political independence,” Iran’s president said.
“These [common] positions have brought us closer 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,” Raeisi added.
“The two countries’ potentialities for the promotion of relations, especially in the fields of trade, have been ignored and, unfortunately, we are facing a major lag in this regard,” Iran’s president said.
“Countries like China and Iran enjoy many potentialities and as two independent countries, they have common interests in the region and the world and can further expand their relations. Therefore, we must make up for the lag that has so far existed with respect to China,” Raeisi added.
He noted that to achieve that goal, the potentialities of both countries must be exactly identified, especially with regard to trade and economic exchanges.
“We have relations with China in various economic, energy, financial, and monetary fields and these relations must continue. Our ministers will sign agreements during this trip. On the whole, 20 agreements will be signed by the two countries’ high-ranking officials,” Raeisi said.
During his groundbreaking visit to China, Raeisi is being accompanied by Iran’s foreign minister; minister of economy; minister of road and transportation; minister of oil; minister of industry, mine and trade; and minister of agriculture. His delegation also includes the governor of the Central Bank of Iran and Ali Baqeri, who is both Iran’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs and the country’s top negotiator in the sanctions removal talks with other signatories to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Raeisi’s visit to China is his 10th foreign trip during the past one and a half years and has been undertaken on the official invitation of his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
