Friendly relations and cooperation between the People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Iran moved forward steadily in 2010.
Leaders of the two countries maintained frequent exchanges. In September, Li Changchun, Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, visited Iran. He met with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Speaker of the Parliament Ali Larijani and held talks with Vice President Mirtaj Aldini. Li Changchun gave positive evaluation to the current situation of China-Iran relations and made four proposals on further deepening friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries. First, the two sides should maintain high-level exchanges to deepen political mutual trust. Second, the two sides should advance practical cooperation to achieve win-win results. Third, the two sides should enrich cultural exchanges to carry forward the profound friendship that had been built through years of exchanges. Fourth, the two sides should maintain communication on international affairs to uphold peace, stability and prosperity of the region and beyond. In June, President Ahmadinejad attended the National Pavilion Day Event for Iran during the Shanghai World Expo. He met with Yu Zhengsheng, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, and co-chaired with him the ceremony of the Iranian National Pavilion Day event. On 1 April, State Councilor Dai Bingguo and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi had separate meetings with the visiting Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and Chief Nuclear Negotiator of Iran Saeed Jalili. The two sides exchanged views on the bilateral relations and the Iranian nuclear issue.
There were close exchanges between the two foreign ministries. Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki maintained telephone exchanges and correspondence. In April, Assistant Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping attended the International Disarmament Conference in Iran. In September, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi met with Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki in New York. In November, Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin visited Iran and met with Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili and Vice Foreign Minister Mohammad Mehdi Akhoundzadeh and held talks with Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Bagheri. In December, Mohammad Ali Fatullahi, Vice Foreign Minister in charge of Asia-Pacific affairs, came to China and co-chaired with Vice Foreign Minister Zhai Jun a new round of political consultation between China and Iran.
The Bilateral economic cooperation and trade achieved steady growth. In August, Vice Premier Li Keqiang met with visiting Minister of Oil Seyed Masoud Mirkazemi. In October, a delegation led by Minister of Railways Liu Zhijun visited Iran. He held talks with Minister for Roads and Transporation Hamid Behbahani and signed with him the MOU on Cooperation between the Ministry of Railways of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Roads and Transportation of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The bilateral cooperation in education, sports and culture yielded fruitful results. On 28 September, MOUs of cooperation were signed between the General Administration of Press and Publication of China and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance of Iran and between China Central Television (CCTV) and the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting. On the same day, the journalist station of CCTV in Tehran was inaugurated. In November, Ali Saeidlou, Vice President in charge of sports, attended the opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Guangzhou. He had a meeting with Liu Peng, Minister of the General Administration of Sport and Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Asian Games, and signed with him an MOU on sports cooperation between the two countries. In December, Vice President Saeidlou and Vice President Masoud Zaribafan, who was in charge of affairs relating to people with disabilities, attended the opening ceremony of the Asian Para Games in Guangzhou.
There were close contacts between departments and institutions of the two countries. In May, Hosein Sobhaninia, Chairman of the Iran-China Friendship Group and Deputy Head of the Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, led a delegation to China. Li Shenming, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Li Xiaolin, Vice President of the Chinese People's Association of Friendship with Foreign Countries, He Junke, Vice Chairman of the All-China Youth Federation, and Hu Xiaoyi, Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security, visited Iran at the head of delegations.(Last Update: 2011/08/22)