TEHRAN, Iran, June 29
Trend:
Iran and China trade turnover decreased due to coronavirus spread, Chairman of Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce Majid Reza Hariri told Trend.
"The released statistic on the trade between the two countries issued by the Chinese customs covers first four months of 2020, and latest data have yet to be announced," said the chairman.
"The total trade volume between the two countries reached $5.3 billion, that includes oil export worth $2.9 billion from Iran to China and $2.4-billion import from China to Iran," Reza Hariri said.
"The transportation, business trips and direct communications have been effected by the coronavirus spread," he added. "The Trade Promotion Organization of Iran has not released the trade statistics; however, the estimations indicate the trade with China has dramatically dropped in current Iranian year [started March 20, 2020]."
"Due to the sanctions against Iran, the country can not sell oil; at the same time, export of oil and petrochemical products are effected by the low price of oil. China accounts for one fourth of Iran's total foreign trade operations, and it is expected that Iran's foreign trade will drop by 40 percent," the chairman said.
Commenting on the news that claimed Iran oil sale to China declined 90 percent in current Iranian year, he said: "The source was a foreign media outlet, not Iranian or Chinese and therefore, it can not be reliable; the sale of Iran's oil is under control. The total sales of oil are down in then current situation, but it is very unlikely that the sale dropped by 90 percent."
"I believe oil sale has reduced dramatically, but not to that extent; so far, neither Iran nor China released the latest statistics," he added.