An Iranian official is hoping that a Chinese delegation expected soon in Iran will consider the idea of a joint bank.

One of the bank's purposes would be to make letters of credit (L/Cs) more available to both Iranian and Chinese traders.

Proposal

The director of Iran's Trade Promotion Organisation, Hamid Safdel, proposed the idea of the joint bank at a meeting in Tehran with the Chinese ambassador, Yuhong Yang.

Safdel said that trade between Iran and China would be boosted if a joint bank were established.

He proposed that the bank would offer L/Cs in either Chinese yuan or the Iranian rial and provide a range of other services to facilitate bilateral trade.

Trade growth

The Iranian official also proposed a ministerial level joint trade committee and the signing of an agreement on trade and customs co-operation.

According to the Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce, annual trade between Iran and China will reach US$50 billion in the next 5 years.

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