Tehran, Iran, Oct. 31
By Mehdi Sepahvand – Trend:
Iran’s cooperation with China has entered a new phase as China is preparing to transit goods to Europe via Iran, the Iranian Customs Administration reported October 31.
The report adds that Iran and China have finalized their negotiations over the arrangement during a visit by a high-ranking Chinese customs delegation to Tehran.
The cooperation comes as part of China’s plan named Silk Road and is backed by Asian Development Bank.
According to the plan, China will ship its cargos to Iran, from where they will be transferred to Europe by land.
The EU is China's largest trading partner, and China is the EU’s second largest trade partner after the United States. Most of this trade is in industrial and manufactured goods. Between 2009 and 2010 alone EU exports to China increased by 38 percent and China's exports to the EU increased by 31 percent.
Europe’s import from China in 2015 stood at 350.4 billion euros. In the meantime, it exported worth 170.3 billion euros to China, resulting in a total trade of 520.8 billion euros and a balance of -180 billion euros.