Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA) has announced plans to open a trade office in China by the end of 2020, in collaboration with major Iranian trade companies.
Gholam Hossein Jamili, a board member of the ICCIMA, announced the plan at a meeting with representatives of some large state-owned companies, saying that the office will work in coordination with the Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce which “has a good reputation among Chinese traders”.
“Creating a strong hub for better trade and economic activities in China is what we are looking for,” Jamili said.
Jamili further explained the ICCIMA's plans for developing Iran’s exports and marketing activities in the face of the US sanctions.
ICCIMA President Gholam Hossein Shafei announced in 2019 that Iran's private sector was ready to establish five national trade offices in five countries to introduce Iranian goods.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) will help the ICCIMA in establishing trade offices, Jamili said.
Majid Reza Hariri, chairman of the Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce, named the planned trade offices as “economic embassies of Iran” adding that they are solutions to the problems Iranian traders face for economic activities in other countries.
ICCIMA trade office will be opened in Shanghai by the end of 2020, Hariri said.
China, Iran's top trade partner
Iran’s commercial exchanges with its biggest trading partner China stood at $6.4 billion during the first five months of 2020 to register a 41.3% decline compared with the corresponding period of 2019.
According to data provided by the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, Iran’s exports to China stood at $2.76 billion for the period under review, indicating a 62.2% year-on-year decline.
In return, China exported $3.69 billion worth of commodities to Iran during the same period to register a 1.2% YOY decrease.
Bilateral trade in May stood at $1.13 billion. Iran’s exports to China accounted for $370,744 of the figure while imports stood at $761.263.
Trade with China in 2019 stood at $23.02 billion to register a decline of 34.3% compared to 2018.
Iran exported $13.43 billion worth of commodities to China last year, 36.3% less year-on-year. In return, China exported $9.59 billion worth of goods to Iran, down 31.2% YOY.
Approximately 80% of China's total imports from Iran are oil and the rest is mineral and chemical products.