Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Support and Stability Apparatus (SSA) chief Abdel Ghani al-Kikli confirmed dead.
Gunfire heard in various areas of the Libyan capital of Tripoli.
Libyan sources: The Ministry of Interior urges all citizens in Tripoli to remain in their homes.
Libyan sources: Air traffic halted at Tripoli Airport following reports of the death of Support and Stability Apparatus (SSA) chief Abdel Ghani al-Kikli.
Libyan sources: Clashes and military movements reported inside the capital, Tripoli.
Sheikh Qassem: Lebanese officials must also prioritize rebuilding the state economically and socially, as well as returning the depositors’ funds.
Sheikh Qassem: The second priority is reconstruction, and I call on the Lebanese government to place this item first on the agenda of its next session.
Sheikh Qassem: Lebanese officials must prioritize ending Israeli aggression, its violations, its occupation, and securing the release of prisoners.
Sheikh Qassem: We are part of the new era and partners in its benefits, and we want those who previously took certain stances for specific reasons to reconsider them in order to build the country.
Sheikh Qassem: We say to the servants of Israel: return to your national sense so that we can work together.

Raisi's trip to Beijing is more than meets the eye

  • F.M. Shakil F.M. Shakil
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 28 Feb 2023 00:22
  • 3 Shares
7 Min Read

Raisi's journey to Beijing came after Xi's high-profile tour of Saudi Arabia in December last year as part of Beijing's well-planned strategy to gain a foothold in West Asia.

  • x
  • Raisi's trip to Beijing is more than meets the eye
    In 2022, commodities worth US$15.795 billion were traded between Iran and China, 7% up from the previous year

In what could be considered the first strategic engagement by an Iranian leader with the Asian economic powerhouse in years, President Ebrahim Raisi has just concluded a three-day state visit to Beijing. Raisi's trip happened two months after Xi's tour of Saudi Arabia, where Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave him a royal welcome and set up his meetings with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). 

This was the first high-level contact between the two nations since Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Tehran in 2016, shortly after Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the West in 2015.

Iran-China agreements

Although Beijing and Tehran signed 20 covenants to strengthen security and economic cooperation during the meeting, the true purpose of this grand exercise—drawing Iran's central bank governor and half a dozen cabinet members to Beijing—is more than meets the eye.

According to official Iranian media, the objective of the visit was to strengthen political and commercial ties between the two nations, as is evident from a host of agreements made during the summit conference in Beijing. Media reports, on the other hand, say that the focus is still on the strategic 25-year agreement between the two countries that was signed by the foreign ministers of Iran and China in Tehran in March 2021.

The main goal of the trip, according to Raisi's deputy for political affairs, Mohammad Jamshidi, was to "finalize the operational steps" of the 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement that the two countries signed in 2021.

Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, claims that the agreement has begun the implementation phase, although no big contracts or projects have yet been made public due to Iran still being subject to stringent US sanctions.

Balancing act

Related News

How (mis)information about China affects Iran's presidential elections

Loss of Raisi: Reaffirming Unity and Resistance

Raisi's journey to Beijing came after Xi's high-profile tour of Saudi Arabia in December last year as part of Beijing's well-planned strategy to gain a foothold in West Asia, where the US held comfortable clout. Tehran, however, took offense to a subsequent joint statement China and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) released after the tour was over.

The statement called on Iran to abide by the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It also urged the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to attempt to negotiate a resolution with Iran regarding the territorial dispute over three islands in the Strait of Hormuz, a matter on which Iran has made clear that it will not engage in negotiations. To formally protest the statement to Beijing, Iran had to summon the Chinese ambassador to Tehran.

According to observers, Beijing's warm welcome for Raisi served as a means to arrive at a consensus on the contentious joint statement of the Riyadh summit. They claim Beijing's support for Iran on regional matters, such as jointly denouncing "interference in Yemen" (a subliminal reference to the Saudi-led intervention), and its demand that "Israel" signs the non-proliferation treaty to effectively put its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards, were an effort to soften the Riyadh declaration.

Raisi's trip to Beijing happens at a time "when Iran becomes a full member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) following its candidacy being approved at the organization's annual meeting in Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, in September 2021. President Ebrahim Raisi's remarks shortly after Iran was granted SCO membership highlight Iran's push for regional cooperation to counter the US's "unilateralism and hegemony" in the region. The latter developments that unfolded in the post-SCO scenario showed that Tehran wants closer ties with its regional neighbors, including China.

Mutual trade

The expanding trade ties between China and Iran are another feature of Raisi’s visit to China. Despite the US and EU sanctions, China has become a good market for Iran to sell oil and other goods. Tehran wants to increase bilateral trade because non-oil exports from Iran are expected to reach $52 billion by the end of 2023. 

Iran's state-run Fars News Agency reveals, quoting an Iranian investment official, that China invested only $162 million in Iran's economy during the first year of Raisi's presidency, less than both Afghanistan and Turkey put together. Yet China remains its largest trading partner, as evidenced by the fact that, for the first ten months of the current Iranian calendar year—which ends in March—Iran imported $12.7 billion worth of goods from China and exported $12.6 billion to China, according to most estimates.

In 2022, commodities worth US$15.795 billion were traded between Iran and China, 7% up from the previous year. To put it another way, that represents an increase of just over $1 billion over what was projected for 2021. With this increase, Chinese exports to Iran will reach US$9.44 billion in 2022, a 14% year-over-year increase from 2021. To put this in perspective, the value of Chinese exports to Iran in 2016 was $8.258 billion.

Recent monthly data shows a shift in bilateral commerce as China acquires more oil and energy resources from Iran, with China exporting US$893 million and importing US$312 million from Iran in December 2022, for a positive trade balance of $581 million.

Crude Oil

Iran has the fourth-greatest oil reserves and the second-largest gas reserves in the world, despite being under severe sanctions from the US due to its nuclear energy industry. Iran's oil exports surged by a factor of 10 by the end of 2022, and this pattern persisted throughout the first few months of 2023. For instance, Iranian crude shipments in November hit 1.23 million barrels per day (bpd), the highest level since August 2022.

The growth is happening despite harsh US sanctions and constant rhetoric, which makes people wonder if there are still any chances for a nuclear agreement and for Iran to be able to trade and grow its economy.

Notwithstanding the US sanctions on Iran, China still buys Iranian oil, and several companies that track data say that Iran's oil exports hit record highs in November and December 2022 and got off to a good start in 2023.

China has bought US$47 billion in Iranian oil since US President Biden took office in 2021, solidifying China as a crucial lifeline for Iran. The current levels are much higher than the less than 500,000 barrels per day projected for 2020, even if they are much lower than Iran's peak exports of 2.5 million barrels per day at the beginning of 2018.

The opinions mentioned in this article do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Al mayadeen, but rather express the opinion of its writer exclusively.
  • Ebrahim Raisi
  • China
  • Xi Jinping
  • Iran
F.M. Shakil

F.M. Shakil

Freelance Journalist

Most Read

All
Throughout Operation Prosperity Guardian, current and former US military and intelligence officials expressed disquiet at the enormous “cost offset” involved in battling Ansar Allah. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab El-Hajj)

Ansar Allah triumphant: US facing Red Sea defeat again

  • Opinion
  • 3 May 2025
"Israel" appears to be the only place in the world where there are actual demonstrations defending rapists as national heroes precisely because of their crimes. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

'Israeli pride' - Celebrating rape in the Zionist entity

  • Opinion
  • 4 May 2025
Why the Israelis cannot win in Gaza or Yemen

Why the Israelis cannot win in Gaza or Yemen

  • Opinion
  • 7 May 2025
The hero who overthrows tyranny: The path of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam

The hero who overthrows tyranny: The path of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam

  • Blog
  • 2 May 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

More from this writer

All
US mingling with the Taliban aims at chopping the Chinese mineral supply chain

US mingling with the Taliban aims at chopping the Chinese mineral supply chain

The US economy and global markets find themselves in a real pickle with Trump's oscillation

The US economy and global markets find themselves in a real pickle with Trump's oscillation

Did the US pause the tariff escalation, sensing the shifting tides of de-dollarization?

Did the US pause the tariff escalation, sensing the shifting tides of de-dollarization?

'Israel’s' new AI tool to examine datasets gathered in breach of Palestinians' right to privacy

'Israel’s' new AI tool to examine datasets gathered in breach of Palestinians' right to privacy

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS