Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is expected to pay a state visit to China this week at the request of President Xi Jinping, Beijing confirmed on Sunday.
The visit, scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday, is Raisi’s first to China since 2021 and is aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries, both rivals of the United States.
FILE – In this file photo released by China’s Xinhua News Agency, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, right, and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a photo on the sidelines of a summit meeting in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on September 10. 16, 2022. (Shen Hong/Xinhua via AP, File)
Raisi will meet Xi and their delegations will sign cooperation documents, according to Iran’s state news agency IRNA. Meeting with Iranian and Chinese business leaders and Iranian expatriates in China is also part of his itinerary, the report added.
The two leaders met last September in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, when Xi stressed China’s support for Iran.
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“Cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will give China and Iran more space for cooperation,” said Zhu Yongbiao, executive director of the Belt and Road Research Center. , to the state newspaper Global Times. “It is foreseeable that after this meeting, China-Iran relations will enter a new higher stage.”
In December, Raisi pledged to remain committed to deepening the strategic partnership during a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Hu Chunhua in Tehran.
Chinese President Xi Jinping looks to Afghanistan to amplify China’s growing economic interests. (Photo by Thomas Peter/ Reuters)
China is a major buyer of Iranian oil and a major source of investment in the Middle Eastern country. In 2021, Iran and China signed a 25-year strategic cooperation agreement covering major economic activities, from oil and mining to industry, transportation, and agriculture.
Both countries have had tense relations with the United States and have sought to project themselves as a counterweight to American power alongside Russia.
Washington has accused Iran of selling hundreds of attack drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine and sanctioned executives at an Iranian drone maker. At the same time, the ties between Moscow and Beijing have strengthened.
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Iran celebrated the 44th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution on Saturday amid nationwide anti-government protests and rising tensions with the West.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
