Before leaving for China on Monday evening, Ayatollah Dr Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi talked about his official travel plans to the country, pointing out that this visit is taking place at the official invitation of Mr Xi Jinping, the President of China, and said, "First of all, in this trip, the implementation of the 25-year strategic document signed between the two countries will be pursued".
Pointing out that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the People's Republic of China have extensive relations, but the diverse capacities of the two countries have provided a suitable basis for raising the level of cooperation between the two countries, especially in the economic and commercial fields, the President added, "There is a backwardness in the development of relations with China and we are serious about fixing it".
Dr Raisi described Iran and China as two independent countries with common interests in the regional and international arena and stated, "Compensating for the backwardness of the development of relations between the two countries requires a detailed understanding of mutual capacities and efforts to exchange and actualise these capacities, especially in the economic field".
The President described the serious will of Iran and China to improve the level of relations a very suitable basis for realising this goal, and added, "The two countries have good relations in the fields of economy, trade, energy, financial and monetary issues, the development of which should be pursued seriously".
Referring to the plans made for the signing of 20 cooperation documents in this trip between the high-ranking officials of the two countries, Ayatollah Raisi noted, "The development of strategic relations between the two countries in the bilateral and regional arenas will be pursued seriously".
Referring to the definitive membership of Iran in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and developing the regional relations of the Islamic Republic of Iran with China by taking advantage of the capacities of this organisation, the President said, "Iran's membership in the Shanghai Organisation is a suitable ground for deepening relations with all Asian countries, including the great country of China".
Dr Raisi also mentioned the common positions and views of Iran and China on international issues and added, "The two countries have common positions in the field of confronting unilateralism and enjoying political independence, which brought us together and led to the formation of good cooperation between Iran and China in the political and international fields".
The President further stated, "During this trip, we will also have meetings with the President of China and high-ranking officials of this country, and the members of the accompanying high-ranking delegation will also have meetings with each other, and I hope that this trip will be effective for the development of all-round relations between the two countries in line with what the two countries wishes".