He made the above remark in an interview with IRNA correspondent and stated, “economic field is one of the most important areas of forging relationship between countries such as China and Iran, so that Tehran and Beijing are two reliable business partners in this respect.”

China is trying to expand and develop its relation with the Islamic Republic of Iran, using different organizations and institutions, in cooperation with the private sector, the deputy foreign minister emphasized.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he pointed to some external pressures imposed on Iran and reiterated, “Chinese government is working hard to keep its companies active in Iran’s lucrative market.”

He termed trade and economy as a linking bridge for enhancing relations between Iran and China as well as other members of the international community and said, “we want to create a very pleasant and favorable environment for doing trade and business with other countries.”

He pointed to encouraging Chinese companies to have a strong presence in Iran’s lucrative market and investing in this country as one of Chinese strategic programs for developing and strengthening ties with Iran.

He further referred to the significance of exchanging manpower between Iran and China and added, “Iran and China has established amicable relationship with each other which dates back to many years ago, so that China attaches great importance to its relation with Iran.”

Turning to the significance of Iran in One Belt One Road (OBOR) he reiterated, “the two countries of Iran and China have established very close relationship with each other and will spare no efforts to enhance their relations in this regard.”

“The sides had an in-depth exchange of views on the Syrian problem,” the ministry said in a statement.

Xie Xiaoyan visited Syria on July 25-27. He met with Walid Muallem, minister for foreign affairs and migration, his deputy Faisal Mekdad and national reconciliation minister Ali Haidar.

Earlier, Xie Xiaoyan signalled Beijing’s willingness “to do its best” to contribute to ordinary Syrians returning back to normal life, noting that at least 260 billion dollars in aid money is needed to restore the war-torn Arab country, and that the restoration would take combined efforts of the entire international community.

What’s more, the source said that Beijing is planning to slap tariffs on US crude oil imports and replace them with West African and Middle Eastern crude, including crude from Iran. China has already said that it will not comply with US sanctions against Iran and it seems to be the only country for now in a position to do this.

US crude oil exports to China reached 400,000 bpd at the beginning of this month, but now Beijing is planning to impose a 25-percent tariff on these as part of its retaliation for Trump’s latest round of tariffs on US$34 billion worth of Chinese goods. The retaliation began with tariffs on 545 US goods worth another US$34 billion, but, Reuters reports, the oil tariffs will be announced at a later date.

Energy analysts seem to believe that these oil tariffs are more or less a certainty, and now expect a reshuffle of crude oil imports to Asia. With China turning to Iran for its crude, US oil could start flowing in greater amounts to another leading importer in the region, South Korea.

“If China retaliates with tariffs on US crude, that could improve South Korea’s terms of buying US crude…because the US would need a market to sell to,” on analyst, from the Korea Energy Economic Institute.

Meanwhile, South Korea’s embassy in Iran this weekend rejected media reports that the country had suspended oil purchases from Iran under pressure from the United States. The country is the third-biggest buyer of Iranian crude in Asia, buying Iranian crude at an average daily rate of almost 300,000 barrels since March this year.