Interview: Iran-China cooperation under BRI mutually beneficial -- Iranian business leader

TEHRAN, June 12 (Xinhua) -- It is mutually beneficial to advance Iran-China cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which could accelerate both Iran's development and the China-proposed initiative's implementation, a senior Iranian business leader told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The deepening of cooperation between Iran and China under the BRI could help promote "the country's infrastructure, particularly in the transportation sector, such as roads, railways, ports, airports and means of transportation," said Majidreza Hariri, president of the Iran-China Chamber of Commerce and Industries (ICCCI).

"Such collaborations would also help boost employment in Iran, which is among the problems faced by the country's youths as well as educated and skilled workforce," he added.

In addition, Iran's participation in the BRI helps develop the country's mining sector, thus increasing their share in the domestic economy, he said.

"Iran's ideal geographical position is the first and most important advantage," which makes the country's participation in the BRI beneficial for the China-proposed initiative, as it appropriately connects West Asia to East Asia through land and sea, Hariri said.

Among Iran's other advantages include the country's good political and economic relations with its Eastern and Western neighbors, he said.

"If these advantages are used appropriately and maximally, they can help accelerate the BRI's implementation," Hariri added.

Despite the shadow cast by the COVID-19 pandemic, the ICCCI has gradually learned to take part in online exhibitions and hold virtual meetings with their Chinese partners to increase its presence in the Chinese market, he said.

The Iranian business leader, who has interacted with the Chinese people for roughly 40 years and visited China regularly for almost three decades before the pandemic, said that "the Iranian and Chinese people, owing to their behaviors and characteristics, can work together" and make friends with each other.

As this year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), he said that the Chinese ruling party "has helped considerably improve the quality of people's lives in China. "

"The present level of development and progress witnessed in China could not be possible without such a CPC-led united country," he noted.