Tang Renjian, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, met with Seyyed Javad Sadati Nejad, Minister of Agriculture of Iran, in Beijing on Feb. 15. Minister Nejad was part of a delegation led by President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran to China. 

Minister Tang pointed out that both China and Iran have their own advantages in agriculture, and bilateral agricultural cooperation has a solid foundation and vast potential. China is willing to work with Iran to implement the consensus reached by the presidents of both countries and push for stable and solid development of China-Iran agricultural cooperation. To this end, Minister Tang put forth three suggestions. First, give full play to the role of the China-Iran Joint Committee on Agriculture and the China-Iran Joint Committee on Fisheries, synergize strategies through policy dialogue, and plan and design cooperative projects that are on point and quick to yield fruits; second, facilitate capacity building through enhancing technology exchange in areas such as water conservation in dryland agriculture, development of plant varieties, and soil health; third, steadily boost bilateral ago-trade and improve the cooperation environment. 

Minister Nejad spoke highly of China’s long-term commitment to developing China-Iran agricultural cooperation. He agreed with Minister Tang’s suggestions, saying that Iran is willing to deepen practical agricultural cooperation with China, enhance people-to-people exchanges, increase its own comprehensive grain production capacity, and raise China-Iran economic and trade cooperation to a higher level.