SHANGHAI China-Iran relations have been developing in a steady way in the last decades.
And the year 2024 particularly saw more frequent and more profound interactions between the two, which suggests that China-Iran relations are progressing toward a new high level of mutual political trust.China-Iran relations are strongly founded, and the three mutuals should be particularly mentioned.
The first should be mutual appreciation of the civilization of the other side.
China represents civilization of East Asia while Iran represents the achievements of human civilization of West Asia.
The two have been learning from each other for more than two thousand years.
The shared heritage of Karez is just one example of the mutual learning of the two.
And the two have been interacting with each other peacefully along the ancient Silk Road.The second should be mutual acknowledgement of the importance of the other side as a strategic actor.
China is well aware that Iran is a great regional power with diligent and intelligent people, abundant resources and geopolitical location while Iran is well aware that China is one of the leading actors situated in East Asia but with global influence.
The two are interdependent partners on strategic issues.The third should be mutual economic complementarity.
While Iran is rich in natural resources including oil and gas and a number of very important rare minerals, China has advantage in financial investment and advanced technologies, and is in need of energy as a major consumer.
The complementarity has served to bind the two together economically.The three mutuals have served to maintain the relations between the two in stable ways for decades.
But worthy of special mentioning is that the last years, the year 2024 in particular, have seen that the relations between the two have entered a new stage of mutual political trust as a result of both the natural development of bilateral relations and the evolution of global politics.Mutual political trust is firstly manifested in the frequency of high-level exchanges.
President Xi Jinping met with Iranian acting President Mohammad Mokhber and President Pezeshkian respectively in the sidelines of SCO summit in early July 2024 and of BRICS+ summit in late October 2024.
Chinas Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing visited Iran with a high-level delegation in early December.
And Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, Iranian Foreign Minister, paid a visit to China in late December, concluding a very intensive one-year-round of interactions between China and Iran.
In addition, more high-level exchanges took place in the sidelines of various multilateral institutions.It is rare that the two sides have had so many high-level talks in person in one single year.
This should be partly attributed to Irans entrance into SCO and BRICS while Irans full membership in the two organizations itself demonstrated the high level of mutual political trust.
The two organizations are the ones China playing leading roles in though they are not exclusive by origins.Mutual political trust is secondly manifested in the will of both sides in enhancing friendly relations.
In Kazan meeting, President Xi Jinping said that no matter how the international and regional situation evolves, China will unswervingly develop friendly cooperation with Iran; President Pezeshkian said that Iran will continue to support China on issues concerning Chinas core interests and opposing hegemony and bullying.
Besides, President Pezeshkian mentioned his appreciation for Chinas assistance in difficult times in his My Message to the New World shortly after his inauguration, which has been well received in China.Mutual political trust is thirdly manifested in the depth of cooperation and coordination between the two sides.
China and Iran cooperated in reaching the joint statement leading to the reconciliation between Iran and Saudi Arabia on March 10, 2023, which has been solidified in the two consecutive meetings in December 2023 and November 2024 at deputy foreign minister level.
The reconciliation marks a major shift in regional geopolitics, which used to be dominated by the West.The two sides have also been coordinating with each other on various critical regional and international issues, for instance the Palestine issue.
While receiving interviews in Beijing upon his arrival, Abbas Araghchi, Iranian Foreign Minister, said that for years, we have consistently maintained close consultations with China on all regional and international matters.Mutual political trust is fourthly manifested in the mutual support of the main foreign policy doctrines and agendas of the other side.
While Chinese leaders would always mention supporting Iran in safeguarding national sovereignty and security and national dignity, Iranian side firmly supports China on issues concerning its core interests.Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi particularly mentioned that President Xi Jinpings diplomatic thought of building a community of a shared future for mankind as ushering a new macro historical trend in his article published in Peoples Daily, the most influential Chinese newspaper, on December 27, 2024, shortly before his visit to China.
In the same article, he also cited the three initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping, namely Global Development Initiative (GDI), Global Security Initiative (GSI) and Global Civilization Initiative (GCI).All these latest moves indicate that China and Iran are more than willing to cooperate with each other with growing trust, and China-Iran relations are entering into a new stage featuring mutual political trust, in addition to the previous three mutuals.However, the term of mutual political trust is with very profound political implications, which are worthy of more thoughtful interpretations of think tank people and policy-makers.
Judging by the turbulent change of the world in the coming decades, the two sides will have to work together to deal with bad weather, and will have to construct mutual political trust at even higher level.*Dr.
Jin Liangxiang is a Senior Research Fellow of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies