Hongda Fan believes that through President Raisi's visit, Iran and China will achieve some results in the implementation of the 25-year agreement, especially in economic cooperation and cultural exchanges. To a large extent, the implementation of the 25-year agreement is the touchstone of Iran-China relations, and its importance to bilateral relations is self-evident.
The full text of the Chinese analyst memo to the IRNA news agency is as follows:
The Iranian President is visiting China at the invitation of the Chinese President. As a Chinese scholar who has been following the relationship between the two countries for a long time, I am happy about this. Visits between national leaders often provide a better boost to international relations. I believe that this visit by President Raisi can do the same.
At present, it is indeed necessary for China and Iran to carry out leadership exchanges. Although the two countries signed a 25-year comprehensive cooperation agreement in 2021, due to Covid-19 and other reasons, the implementation of the agreement has not yet satisfied both parties. The two countries need to make more concrete and practical arrangements for the future of the agreement.
I believe that through President Raisi's visit, Iran and China will achieve some results in the implementation of the 25-year agreement, especially in economic cooperation and cultural exchanges. To a large extent, the implementation of the 25-year agreement is the touchstone of Iran-China relations, and its importance to bilateral relations is self-evident.
The international development trend in recent years also requires further cooperation between Iran and China. World multi-polarization has become a trend, which is also the consensus of most countries, including China and Iran. Both Iran and China have been regarded by Western powers as the main challengers to the existing international order, and therefore have been given multiple suppressions. Faced with such a situation, China and Iran also have an urgent desire to cooperate to jointly promote the shaping of a new international order.
Although both Iran and China want to strengthen bilateral relations, unfortunately, it seems that the two countries have not yet found the proper way to turn their good wishes into reality. Since the signing of the 25-year agreement in 2021, there has been no breakthrough in Iran-China relations. Frankly speaking, there are still many problems in the exchanges between the two countries. The inability to view each other objectively and the lack of mutual trust are factors that cannot be ignored. This is basically the case with the officials and people of the two countries. Therefore, in the process of developing bilateral relations, cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, and politics is of course very important, and Iran and China also need to strengthen cultural and personnel exchanges.
The good news is that both Chinese and Iranian policymakers have taken notice of this problem. In developing foreign relations in recent years, China has been vigorously advocating people-to-people bonds and mutual learning among civilizations. I also noticed that on February 13, President Raisi published an article titled "Old friends are the best partners for future cooperation" in the People's Daily, China's largest newspaper. In this article, Mr. President wrote that the Iranian government under his leadership strongly supports the non-governmental exchanges between Iran and China, promotes cooperation between universities in the two countries, and promotes the development of tourism in the two countries.
Both Iran and China are countries with their own civilizations and long histories and have jointly written a good history of bilateral relations. I wish the two countries will work together to write a better chapter of friendship in the future.
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