Iran's president meets Leader ahead of China trip

Iran's President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi met with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei before paying a state visit to China.

According to Tasnim news agency, in the meeting, held in Tehran on Monday, President  Raeisi gave the Leader a report on his working plan and the meetings he is going to hold in Beijing.

Ayatollah Khamenei expressed satisfaction with the arrangements that have been made, wishing the president success.

President Raeisi will visit Beijing from February 14 to 16 at the official invitation of his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

In March 2021, the foreign ministers of Iran and China signed a 25-Year Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement between the two countries in various fields.

The Iran-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was announced in a joint statement during a visit by the Chinese president to Tehran in 2016.

The deputy head of the Iranian president’s office for political affairs has said that the efforts to carry out the comprehensive cooperation deal will be one of the objectives during President Raeisi’s forthcoming trip to China.

He noted that the president will be accompanied by the ministers of economy, foreign affairs, agriculture, roads, industry and petroleum, as well as the governor of the Central Bank of Iran in the visit to China.

China has strengthened its position as Iran’s top trade partner in recent years. During the first ten months of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2022 – January 20, 2023), China has exported $12.7 billion worth of goods to Iran and its imports from Iran stood at $12.6 billion.

ME