Annual Meeting of Iran and China Friendship Associations Held In Tehran

China and Iran are two cradles of ancient civilization each with 5,000 years of history. Thousands of years ago, the Chinese people began to have communications with Persians through the Silk Road; 600 years ago, Admiral Zheng He, the Chinese navigator brought his fleet to the Persian Gulf to promote friendship.

The Iran-China Friendship Society (ICFS) was founded in 1998. For more than a decade, the CPAFFC and the ICFS have maintained close contacts and made active contributions to enhancing the cause of friendship between the two countries. In December 2008, the China-Iran Friendship Association (CIFA) was established to provide a new channel for the development of the work.

In June, Vice President of the CPAFFC Li Xiaoling led a delegation to Iran on a goodwill visit. The delegation consisted of people in charge of the friendship-city work of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Xi’an Municipal People’s Government, business representatives and specially-invited council members of the CIFA.

On the morning of June 5, Vice President Li and her party arrived at the Imam Khomeini International Airport of Tehran. Forty minutes later, their bus reached the downtown area. What impressed the delegation members most were the clean streets lined with beautiful buildings. They saw the faces of passers-by calm and contented. Gradually, those visiting Iran for the first time felt increasing familiarity rather than curiosity.

The delegation had a tight schedule, and its main purpose was to attend the Annual Meeting of Iran and China Friendship Associations. ICFS President Ahad Mohammadi opened the meeting by saying he hoped to strengthen cooperation in tourism to promote mutual understanding between the two peoples. General Manager Qasemi of the Foreign Investment Office of the Ministry of Finance and Economy gave a briefing on Iran’s preferential investment policies and welcomed Chinese enterprises to invest more. Ms. Riahi, in charge of Asia and Oceania at the Ministry of Oil, spoke about the oil projects in Iran’s Fifth Five-Year Plan, and hoped that both sides would seize the opportunity to enhance cooperation. Al-e-Eshaq, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Industry and Mines, pledged to make good use of the existing advantages of the chamber of commerce and exert all efforts possible to facilitate the work of the friendship associations of the two countries.

Vice President Li Xiaolin recalled the history of Sino-Iranian friendship, and said the Chinese side would work with its Iranian counterparts to further mutual understanding, broaden consensus, and consolidate the basis of long-term mutually beneficial and friendly cooperation. Chen Weiqing, Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Iran, pointed out that there were opportunities and challenges in the development of the bilateral relations. Zhang Jianzhong, one of the enterprise representatives and a council member of the CIFA, made some suggestions on the development of bilateral trade and economic cooperation.

Vice President Li and President Ahad Mohammadi signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Further Cooperation between the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Iran-China Friendship Society containing a number of agreements on promoting the work of the two organizations. President Ahad Mohammadi conferred the Persian Rose Award on Lam Kin Chung and Ho Hau Wong, specially invited council members of the CIFA from Hong Kong in recognition of their contributions to promoting people-to-people exchanges.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad Bagher Khoramshad met with the delegation.

After the delegation finished all its scheduled activities in the capital, the ICFS arranged a one-day visit to Isfahan, the capital of two dynasties in the history of Iran and a hub of trade on the Silk Road, summed up by the Persian proverb “Esfahan Nesf-e Jahan” (Isfahan is half the world). On arriving in the city, the delegation members felt the intense liveliness. People were enjoying leisure time in riverside parks. On the 33-Arch Bridge, lovers were whispering. The wide Imam Square reflected the glorious ancient Persian culture. Today, the old city with rich oriental flavor has become an important hub of communication and the center of the iron and steel industry and traditional handicrafts. Vice President Li Xiaolin met with the Governor of the Province of Isfahan as well as officials of the Municipal Government. The delegation members from Xi’an exchanged views with Isfahan Municipal Government officials on furthering the friendship-city relations between the two cities, and cooperation in excavation and preservation of historic relics.

The visit was covered in a friendly and pragmatic atmosphere, as both sides expressed their firm determination to develop the friendly cooperation between China and Iran. The delegation was also pleased to know that members of the ICFS were not only figures with significant social influence but many of them also experts of the Chinese language. This is a favorable condition for the CPAFFC and the CIFA to carry on their undertakings and a treasure of the cause of Sino-Iranian friendship.