According to Total News, quoted by Farina (the news base of the Supreme Council of Free and Special Economic Zones of Iran), Iran and China, who have gone beyond being business partners and diplomatic friends for the past decades and have stepped on the path of bilateral strategic relations. In their latest move to deepen bilateral relations, they have decided to establish Iran commercial centers in China and establish a logistics park in Sarakhs with the aim of multiplying the container capacity for goods entering from Central Asia to Iran through the Sarakhs route and exiting from the northwestern route of Iran.
Trade between Iran and China, as one of the oldest economic relations in the world, has never reached its end despite all the ups and downs, and in recent years, despite the cruel sanctions of the United States, China has always stood by Iran and expanded its commercial exchanges with this country in the different fields has continued.
President Ebrahim Raisi’s visit to China in February of last year was also a big step to deepen the strategic relations between them. A trip that had wide reflections in the world press, which was the common thread of all these analyzes and news reports of the closeness of Tehran and Beijing. Politico magazine wrote about this, that the president’s visit to China took place while these two American rivals are looking for the growth of bilateral relations. The ABC news channel also announced that Raisi’s visit to China will deepen the relations between these two political and economic partners who are opposed to the domination of international relations under the leadership of the West.
Recently, Majidreza Hariri, the head of the joint chamber of Iran and China has announced that the opening of four representative offices of Iran in China has been planned since the end of this spring in order to make the path of Iran’s access to the target markets in China smoother, to hold an exhibition to introduce and supply Iranian products in this country.
According to the announcement of the Chinese customs, the country’s trade with Iran in 2021 amounted to 14 billion 760 million dollars, which reached 15 billion 795 million dollars in 2022 with a seven percent growth.
China’s exports to Iran in the months of January to December 2022 increased by 14% and reached 9 billion 440 million dollars, but China’s imports from Iran in 2022 faced a two percent decrease, from 6 billion 502 million dollars in 2021 to 6 billion and 355 million dollars reached this year. Iran’s exports to China have mainly included oil and fossil fuels.
According to Hariri, in addition to this, Chinese experts have been stationed in Sarakhs to create a logistics park, and this park will reach its implementation stage by May, and creates container capacity that is several times larger and suitable for the arrival of goods from Turkmenistan and Central Asia through the route of Sarakhs and the exit of cargo from the western north of Iran. This project has started its operation in cooperation with a Chinese company and Astan Quds Razavi, and its official opening will be done by next month.
 Iran’s stronger role in the Belt and Road Initiative
Despite emphasizing the need to strengthen the current logistics programs and transportation corridors passing through Iran, it is necessary to implement new versions to improve the country’s regional status in terms of transit. In other words, regardless of the fact that the revival of the corridors has an important effect on Iran’s economy, the main point is that Iran must first find its role in the global value chain and in international exchanges and play it properly.
Undoubtedly, the establishment of Iran’s development corridor with the priority of expanding trade and increasing economic adhesion towards the countries of the Iranian civilization (such as Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) should be the main priority for the revival of the corridors. In fact, the development of railway lines and road networks in Iran should be prioritized in the economic agenda, because otherwise, despite parallel transit projects such as the Trans-Caspian, which aims to cut Iran off from regional transportation, Iran, despite its special geostrategic position and geopolitics will hand over regional and extra-regional transit concessions to competitors such as Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
It should be noted that Turkey is trying to use the opportunity of the war between Russia and Ukraine, which has disabled the corridor considered by Moscow to Europe (North-South Corridor) and Also, by using Iran’s procrastination in completing its rail routes and equipping its ports, it is trying to establish the Trans-Caspian (Middle) Corridor as the most important means of transferring goods and energy from China to Europe. The Middle Corridor is an initiative that seeks to connect Turkey to China through Georgia, Azerbaijan, the Caspian Sea and then Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
If Iran can quickly and dynamically create suitable railway routes to connect China and the landlocked countries of Central Asia to the open seas, and with the right policy in the field of road, prevent the stabilization of the corridor routes of competing countries such as Turkey and Baku, it will be able in addition to rich economic income, it should increase its role in the political and cultural arena and also increase its security and power.
Meanwhile, China is willing to include Iran in its logistics and transportation super project known as the New Silk Road or One Belt -One Road. Earlier in July of last year, Shahriar Efendizadeh, the Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development, announced the negotiation with the Chinese to turn Iran into the transit hub of the East-West Corridor with regard to infrastructure, facilities and future plans.
Iran is seeking to establish a railway system through Chabahar to Zahedan and from Zahedan to Sarakhs, and if this rail axis between Chabahar and Sarakhs is completed in the future, the route of the north-south corridor from the eastern side of Iran will definitely be shorter and it will enable the Chinese government to connect the free countries of the south and the Persian Gulf.
If the East-West Corridor is developed, Iran will earn an annual income of several billion dollars, but the East-West Corridor is facing infrastructural problems and extensive investment must be made to complete it. In addition to the issue of investment in this corridor, there must also be the ability to attract cargo for it, and the operationalization of this issue requires a medium-term and long-term plan, such as the investment agreement between Iran and China in the amount of 400 billion dollars, which is mentioned in the 25-year cooperation document between the two countries and it should be seen how much of it China allocates for the expansion of this commercial corridor.
Through the east-west corridor, transit goods from China and Central Asian countries in the east and northeast are transported to the Caucasus, West Asia and the Mediterranean Sea through Iran.
By covering 6 different transportation routes (Iran to the countries of Central Asia, Far East, East Asia and Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa), this corridor has made it possible to connect Europe and Africa to the Far East through the Mediterranean Sea and pass through Iran.
With the prolongation of the war in Ukraine, many geopolitical components of the Central Asia and Caucasus region have also started to change, and the change in the east-west transit route is one of the components that the neighboring countries are thinking about.
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Having huge oil and gas resources and being in the “heartland of energy” (the heart of the world’s energy), Iran has a good geographical position to participate and benefit from the benefits of China’s New Silk Road project; The geostrategic position of Iran, which is located on the border of the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf, is important for China, and this country wants Iran’s serious participation in this project.
To realize its strategy in West Asia, China seeks to strengthen its relations with Iran, oil and gas reserves, manpower, attractive domestic market, mineral and non-metallic resources, markets under the influence of Iran in West Asia and transit position are among the reasons of Iran’s attractiveness for China.
For trade between China and Europe, which requires the passage of sea routes, Chinese ships in the Pacific Ocean have to pass through the Strait of Malacca, which is under the control of the United States and its allies, and if this strait is closed, China will be in trouble, so China’s goal is bypassing the Straits of Malacca. China plans to transfer its cargo to the other side of the strait by land, for which it can use ports such as Gwadar or Chabahar ports, but Chabahar port is more attractive to China due to its greater depth.
Chabahar port is a key point of connection between South Asia and Central Asia on one side and East and Europe on the other side, which has made this port the focus of attention of two countries, India and China. As two regional rivals, India and China use Iran in their transit routes.
Iran is located at the crossroads of the world’s transit routes, and the use of this capacity requires the attention of officials and the promotion of knowledge in this field, but in recent years, neglecting the category of transit, which is considered one of the exact symbols of the resistance economy, has led to some transit routes from Iran is removed or due to the lack of transit attractions, the owners of the goods choose other routes to transport their goods; While “short route” and “easy access” is one of the attractions of Iran’s transit corridors.
Earlier, “Mehdi Karimi Tafreshi”, the head of the UN Silk Road Business Working Group, announced that “uncompetitive tariffs” and “long time to transport goods” are among the problems that exist in some transit corridors in Iran. In addition, the possibility of “monitoring goods” is still not available for the owners of the goods within the limited transit routes, and this is considered a serious disadvantage for the transit corridors.
In addition, due to the weak logistics and transportation infrastructure in Iran and neighboring countries such as Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, the speed of trains in the north of Iran that send transit cargo to Central Asia is also very low.
The stoppage of products and consignments in Iranian customs for 10 to 40 days is one of the major transit weaknesses in Iran, which requires a national approach and taking steps such as removing redundant rules and customs and administrative procedures and facilitating the clearance process, in this way, Iran’s international transportation routes can compete with other countries, especially neighboring countries, with more attractiveness and lower costs.
Conclusion
The bilateral relations between Iran and China, which have always been in a stable and forward orbit, following the recent visit of the President to this country and also China’s mediation in the reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which are considered regional rivals, are moving towards deepening as much as possible in economic and political fields
Also, China’s balanced diplomatic action regarding Iran and Saudi Arabia is a sign of strategic importance of the Persian Gulf for Beijing and Xi Jinping’s desire to balance his relations with Saudi Arabia and Iran and a sign of the Chinese’s growing interest in the Middle East. On the other hand, China has been the largest trading partner for Iran, which can provide an economic lifeline with lower-cost options for government.
In the end, Iran and China strongly oppose the unilateralism of the West, and this normative convergence leads to deeper economic cooperation. Also, Iran’s membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization provides opportunities for coordination between Tehran and Beijing in the fields of security, transnational crimes and the fight against terrorism and focuses more on bilateral relations.