Iran-China trade sees y/y hike prior to Pezeshkian’s trip
By Sadeq Dehqan
Staff writer
A member of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce said non-oil trade between the two countries had risen by 12 to 15 percent last year compared with 2023.
In an interview with Iran Daily, Arash Nikpey Salekdeh noted that the value of Iran–China non-oil trade reached $34.1 billion in 2024, an increase of 12 percent from the year before.
Iran exported around $14.8 billion worth of goods to China in 2024 while imports from China amounted to roughly $19.3 billion, he added.
“Iran’s and China’s economies are complementary,” Nikpey Salekdeh said. “Economic cooperation between Iran and China is of particular importance for both sides.” He added that political and geopolitical closeness had created strong ground for trade, though “barriers and challenges still prevent faster development of economic cooperation.”
The development comes as President Masoud Pezeshkian leads a high-level delegation to China today to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and SCO Plus summits, a visit that comes as non-oil trade between Tehran and Beijing continues to grow.
One driver of trade growth, he said, has been Iran’s effort to reduce its reliance on oil. Under intensifying sanctions, Tehran prioritized non-oil exports — especially petrochemicals, minerals and agricultural products — to rebalance trade. China, for its part, has shown strong interest in rail, energy and infrastructure projects under the 25-year cooperation plan with Iran.
Page 3