Iran’s VP Congratulates Appointment of New Chinese Premier

Iranian First Vice-President Mohammad Reza Rahimi in a message on Friday felicitated Li Keqiang on his election as premier of the People’s Republic of China.

“I congratulate you and the Chinese nation on your election as the China’s new premier,” Rahimi said in his message on Friday.

Rahimi described Iran-China relations as historical, and voiced Tehran’s preparedness to develop friendly relations with Beijing.

China’s National People’s Congress has appointed Li Keqiang as premier, placing him on the second highest post in the government of the world’s second-largest economy.

Li, a 57-year-old bureaucrat, replaced Wen Jiabao and would run as the country’s premier for five years.

Trade between Iran and China in the past year was estimated at $45 billion.

Iran is currently China’s third largest supplier of crude, providing Beijing with roughly 12 percent of its total annual oil consumption.

According to the figures released by China’s General Administration of Customs in January, China’s crude oil imports from Iran reached 2.5 million tons (mt) in December 2012, up 43 percent from November.

The official data showed that China’s daily crude imports from Iran in December 2012 also rose 3.6 percent compared to December 2011.

It marks China’s biggest crude import from Iran since it won a renewal of exemption from the United States’ oil embargo against Iran.