Asia-PacificChina

Chinese envoy stresses using potentials of Iran’s Hormuzgan province

Chinese
Chinese Ambassador to Iran Yu Hongyang emphasized using Iran’s Hormuzgan province for the expansion of commercial relations between Iran and China.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Governor General of Hormuzgan province Ebrahim Azizi.

‘Iran and China relations should go beyond the two governments’ ties and, include economic and cultural activities. Potentials of Hormuzgan province, including the Port of Shahid Rajaee surprised us,” the Chinese ambassador said.

The envoy highlighted that Hormuzgan province’s situation in the North-South corridor and neighboring the Hormuz Strait and Persian Gulf has given it a peculiar position.

‘There are also good industrial and transportation infrastructure in the Hormuzgan province,” the Chinese ambassador said.

Governor General of Hormouzgan province, for his part, welcomed the expansion of relations between this province and China’s Guangzhou province.

“Iran is committed to expand relations with China in all fields,” the Iranian governor general said.

China is Iran’s top trade partner, with economic ties expanding in recent years after the withdrawal of Western companies in line with sanctions against the Islamic Republic over its peaceful nuclear program.

Beijing has also significantly increased its presence in Iran’s energy (oil and gas) sector by signing a series of contracts valued at $40 billion in the past few years.

China boosted its oil imports from Iran by 30 percent in 2011 despite the West’s pressure on the world’s second largest economy to reduce economic ties with Iran.

China’s crude oil imports from Iran have hit 27.76 million metric tons in 2011, Chinese General Administration of Customs announced earlier this month.

The figure shows that the country bought nearly 557,000 barrels of oil from Iran on a daily basis last year.

China’s overall crude imports for December 2011 stood at 21.92 million metric tons, up 5.1 percent in comparison with the same period in the previous year.

The growth in China’s oil imports from Iran came despite the West’s efforts to rally support for an oil embargo on Iran.

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