China ready to provide $30b for Iranian road projects: Lawmaker
China is ready to invest $30 billion in Iranian road projects in the framework of finance, said a member of Parliament’s Industries and Mines Committee.
Pointing to the Chinese investor’s eagerness, Vali Maleki added that the investment will help the country to develop its roads, IRNA reported.
The lack of liquidity is a major problem facing road construction projects, noted the lawmaker adding that railroad projects also can benefit from such foreign investments.
The latest market figures released in October showed the level of trade between Iran and China increased by almost a quarter in the first eight months of 2017. Reports quoted China’s customs department as announcing that trade between the two countries from January to August 2016 stood at $19.5 billion.
This is while, reports said, bilateral trade topped $24 billion from January to the end of August this year, showing an increase of 24 percent compared to last year’s figure.
Figures released by China’s customs department show that exports to Iran over the same period last year stood at $10.2 billion against imports of $9.3 billion.
The country’s exports to Iran this year reached $12.04 billion against imports of $12.13 billion thus indicating an increase of 18.1 percent and 30 percent, respectively.
Earlier figures had shown that trade between the two countries had increased by 31 percent during the first half of 2017 reaching $31 billion. The figure for the same period last year was $13.7 billion, the media reported quoting China’s customs department.
Crude oil constituted the bulk of Iran’s exports to China. Based on the latest market figures, the Islamic Republic is exporting as much as 600,000 barrels per day of crude oil to China.
China is Iran’s largest trade partner exporting a wide range of consumer products to the country.