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Iran’s East Azarbaijan, China’s Hubei provinces to expand relations

Iran Materials 7 July 2014 11:41 (UTC +04:00)


Tehran, Iran, Jul. 7

By Milad Fashtami - Trend:

China's Hubei province and Iran's northwestern East Azarbiajan province plan to boost their bilateral ties.

The issue was discussed during a meeting between the secretary general of Hubei province's Communist Party of China (CPC) and East Azarbaijan's governor, Iran's IRNA News Agency reported on July 7.

Representatives of China's Hubei province are currently in Iran's northwestern East Azarbiajan province on an official visit.

The Chinese officials stressed the need to boost the two countries' bilateral trades, adding that the delegation seeks to expand its relations with Iran's AMICO Company.

"We are willing to cooperate with Iranian companies in the fields of solar energy, hydroelectric power plant construction, and truck manufacturing," they said.

East Azarbaijan's governor Esma'el Jabarpour, for his part, said the province has a high industrial and agricultural potential.

Jabarpour said that the province is wiling to increase its exports to China.

On January 20, Chinese Ambassador to Tehran Yuhang Yang announced that the value of trade between the two countries stood at $31 billion in the first ten months of 2013, a 5.3 percent growth year on year.

The bilateral trade amounted to $36 billion in 2012, the diplomat added.

In December 2013, Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce Chairman Asadollah Asgaroladi announced that the annual trade between Iran and China may reach $38 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2014).

According to Iran Customs Administration, the country's total non-oil exports to foreign countries (excluding gas condensates) stood at $31.332 billion in previous year (which ended on March 20), while the country's total imports amounted to $50.818 billion.

The figures mark annual trade balance of -19.486 billion dollars for Iran.

Iran's annual trade turnover is projected to reach $160 billion by the end of the fifth five-year development plan (March 2016).

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