Chinese President Jiang Zemin arrived in Tehran on Friday after a one-day of stay in southern historical city of Shiraz, Fars Province.
Zemin and his entourage were welcomed at Tehran's Mehrabad International airport by Deputy Foreign Minister for Asia-Pacific Affairs Mohsen Aminzadeh.
Aminzadeh told IRNA that Zemin's visit to Tehran is "important" and will be a turning point in bilateral relations. He said China and Iran share rich historical heritage, good ties and have cultural and economic ties on a high level.
He said Zemin would start official talks with Iranian officials Saturday after official welcoming by his Iranian counterpart President Mohammad Khatami.
Zemin arrived in the historical city of Shiraz in southern Iran Thursday to begin his four-day state visit to the Islamic Republic on his last stop in a two-week long five-country tour.
President Zemin was greeted at the city’s airport by provincial officials who took him Friday on a sightseeing tour, including landmark ruins of Persepolis, regarded as the Persian heartland, built 2,500 years ago.
The visit is only the second by a Chinese head of the state to Tehran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and it is Zemin's first. Iranian President Mohammad Khatami visited China in 2000.
Meanwhile, Iran's ambassador to Beijing, Fereydoun Verdinejad told the official Islamic Republic News Agency that the two sides would discuss cooperation in the fields of energy, trade and economy as well as the reconstruction of Afghanistan and security in that country, besides developments in the occupied Palestinian territories.
He added that trade between Tehran and Beijing had doubled during the past three years, reaching 3.3 billion dollars in the last fiscal year.
"Several important agreements in trade, economic and cultural fields will be exchanged between Iranian and Chinese officials," he conveyed.
With regards to the Palestinian situation, Verdinejad said, "Iran and China have close stances on the issue of Palestine. According to Chinese officials, the rights of the Palestinian people must be restored and the Zionist Israeli regime's aggression must end". (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
