SHANGHAI, May 22 -- Iran wishes to serve as a bridge connecting China and Central Asia and the Caucasus, and looks forward to more cooperation with China, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said here Thursday.

Rouhani was speaking at a press conference, a day after he attended the fourth summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in the east China coastal city. He met with Chinese President Xi Jinping earlier Thursday as part of his two-day state visit.

Noting that China was Iran's largest trading partner, Rouhani told reporters his visit to China aimed at further expanding bilateral ties.

He wants to see more cooperation between Iran and China, a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and a member of the P5+1 (the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain, plus Germany) nuclear talks with Iran, in different regional and international matters.

He said closer cooperation would benefit not just the two countries but the wider region.

Meanwhile, Asia and the Middle East needed to cooperate more in order to ensure stability and peace in the region, Rouhani said, expressing hope CICA could be a more influential body in Asia in the future.

Rouhani was elected president of Iran in June 2013. Since he took office, the Islamic republic has adopted a softer diplomatic stance and showed a willingness to have more contact with the outside world.

According to Rouhani, diplomacy is based on more interaction.

Iran's many issues with the outside world in the past were more related to misunderstanding between each other, he said.

On Iran's ongoing nuclear talks, the president said a deal between his country and the P5+1 would be possible, despite the lack of the progress in recent months, even though a July 20 deadline for the deal is close.

In November 2013, the two sides reached an interim deal in Geneva whereby Iran would freeze part of its nuclear program in exchange for a limited easing of sanctions which have taken a serious toll on Iran's economy.

However, Rouhani stressed there was "no rush" in striking a deal, saying the interim deal could be extended for another six months if the deadline passed.

When meeting Rouhani in Shanghai, Xi said China welcomed Iran's active participation in the construction of the Silk Road economic belt and the 21st century maritime Silk Road with cooperation in infrastructure construction and the launch of high-speed railway projects and economic parks.

Xi also told Rouhani China respected Iran's right to peaceful use of nuclear energy and had long believed that negotiations were the only right and effective way to tackle the issue.