On February 16, 2023, Professor Ding Long of the Middle East Studies Institute of Shanghai International Studies University gave an interview to China News Service on Iranian President Leahy's visit to China, the full text of which is as follows.

Iranian President Visits China, New Interaction of Old Friends Releases Strong Signals of Cooperation

No matter how the international and regional situation changes, China will not waver in developing friendly cooperation with Iran, Chinese President Xi Jinping said during a meeting with Iranian President Leahy, who came to China for a state visit on the 14th. Many international media have paid attention to this statement of the Chinese side.

Lehi is on a three-day state visit to China since Feb. 14. On the eve of the opening of this much-anticipated visit, Leahy published an op-ed in Chinese media entitled Old friends are the best partners for future cooperation, raising high expectations for the visit and future Iran-China relations. What kind of cooperation sparks will emerge from the new interaction between old friends? Observers point out that China and Iran are both old friends and new partners, and this visit is an opportunity for the two countries to further deepen their comprehensive strategic partnership, releasing a strong signal to continuously promote cooperation.

The strong signal to strengthen cooperation between the two countries is firstly reflected in the one long-term plan, namely the Comprehensive Cooperation Plan between the People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran signed by both sides in 2021.

Over the past few days, the international community has paid great attention to Leahy's first visit to China since he took office as Iranian president, focusing on China-Iran economic and trade exchanges. Some analysts believe that the implementation of this comprehensive cooperation plan is one of the purposes of Leahy's visit to China at the head of a high-level political and economic delegation.

Data show that bilateral trade between China and Iran maintained positive growth in 2022, with China remaining Iran's top trade partner, largest export destination and second largest source of imports. The China-Iran Comprehensive Cooperation Plan, on the other hand, targets the longer-term prospects of cooperation between the two sides. This 25-year, multi-disciplinary cooperation blueprint has been highly anticipated since the day it was signed.

In September 2022, Xi Jinping said during a meeting with Leahy in Samarkand that both sides should actively implement the comprehensive cooperation plan between the two countries. In less than six months, the Chinese and Iranian heads of state met again, and in this meeting, Xi stressed that China is willing to implement the comprehensive cooperation plan with Iran, deepen practical cooperation in trade, agriculture, industry, infrastructure and other fields, and import more Iranian high-quality agricultural products. The Iranian side hopes to strengthen contacts with the Chinese side at all levels, implement the comprehensive cooperation plan between Iran and China, and deepen practical cooperation in trade, infrastructure and other fields, said Leahy. The outside world noted that after this meeting between the Chinese and Iranian heads of state, the two sides also signed a series of bilateral cooperation documents covering various fields such as agriculture, trade, tourism, environmental protection, health, disaster relief, culture and sports.

Ding Long, a professor at the Institute of Middle East Studies at Shanghai International Studies University, said in an interview with CNA that from the exchange of congratulatory telegrams and telephone calls between the two heads of state on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Iran in 2021, to the telephone calls and meetings between the two heads of state in July and September last year, to this meeting between the two heads of state, China-Iran relations have shown good momentum and strong resilience under the leadership of the head of state diplomacy.

China and Iran have a good political foundation and broad potential for cooperation, and the previous signing of the 25-year-long comprehensive cooperation plan has demonstrated the strategic determination of the two countries. China's former ambassador to Iran, Hua Liming, told the news agency that the two sides are now promoting cooperation in specific areas again, which shows that the plan has made substantial progress.

The strong signal of cooperation between China and Iran is also reflected in the One International Organization, which refers to the cooperation between the two sides within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). 2022 saw the successful signing of a memorandum on Iran's obligations to join the SCO at the 22nd meeting of the SCO Council of Heads of State. Prior to his visit to China, Leahy signed a decree to implement the law on Iran's membership in the SCO, which was described as stepping on the gas for the country's accession to the organization.

During the visit, both China and Iran expressed their willingness to strengthen cooperation in multilateral platforms such as the SCO. The SCO will undoubtedly become the best cooperation platform for the Iranian government to implement its Look East policy, and the strengthening of communication and cooperation between China and Iran in multilateral platforms will help to practice true multilateralism and safeguard the common interests of developing countries, Ding Long said.

In the face of the current complex situation of the changing world, changing times and changing history, China and Iran both emphasize their opposition to hegemony and power politics, and uphold the basic norms of international relations and international fairness and justice. Observers believe that Iran's accession to SCO has opened up new space for China-Iran cooperation. Zhu Yongbiao, executive director of the Belt and Road Research Center of Lanzhou University, believes that Iran's accession to SCO provides a new platform for both sides to participate in multilateral regional cooperation and adds a new dimension to the China-Iran comprehensive strategic partnership. At the same time, the move also allows the two countries to deepen economic and trade cooperation in connectivity, energy and other areas on the regional platform.

Iran and China, located at the eastern and western ends of Asia, once created a glorious history and left fond memories through the ancient Silk Road. During the visit, the Iranian side expressed its firm support for the Belt and Road initiative, global development initiatives and global security initiatives proposed by the Chinese side, and will actively participate in them. It is believed that the two sides will make more progress in building the Belt and Road together through this visit in the future.

Hua Liming said that after China proposed the Belt and Road initiative, Iran, as an important transportation hub and trade hub on the ancient Silk Road, was one of the first countries to respond to this initiative. The Belt and Road will not only once again link the fate of the Chinese and Iranian people, but also give more countries the opportunity to achieve common development.

China's global development initiative and global security initiative provide public goods to address development and security challenges globally. Ding Long said this has injected a new ideological impetus to promote China-Iran pragmatic cooperation, and will moreover contribute to building a fairer and more just international order.

Source: China News Service

(The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the author or the interviewee and do not represent the position of this research institute)