Tehran’s imports have passed $24.2 billion in the first five months of the current Iranian calendar year (started March 21), Iran’s Customs says. New data show the country’s imports increased by 22.2 percent between March and August compared with the corresponding figure last year, Mehr news agency reported. According to the report, gasoline accounted for [...]

China’s Ministry of Commerce says the nation’s exports to Iran have crossed the $5 billion mark, up roughly 50% year on year. China exported $5.44 billion worth of goods to Iran during the first two quarters of 2010, registering a 48.6 percent increase compared to the similar period last year, Fars News Agency quoted the [...]

China has begun naval exercises in the disputed Yellow Sea amid growing tension with the US and South Korea over their upcoming joint military drills there. The Chinese military launched a “live ammunition drill” on Wednesday in the sea between China and the Korean peninsula, Xinhua news agency reported. According to the report, many of [...]

As the US expresses optimism about future talks on Iran’s nuclear program, Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani says Tehran has never refused nuclear talks. US State Department spokesman P J Crowley on Thursday said the United States is hopeful that talks between Iran and P5+1 – Russia, China, France, Britain and the US as well [...]

Iran says it is negotiating a deal with China to launch a railway project which will link the Iranian capital, Tehran, to northwestern provinces in the country. The project is estimated to cost between USD 1.5bn and USD 2bn and is expected to be completed within the next 2.5 years, Fars News Agency quoted Iranian [...]

Iran and China are to finalize a deal in the coming days on the latter’s corporate investment in Iranian petrochemical projects. The National Iranian Petrochemical Company (NIPC) and a Chinese consortium are completing talks on an agreement under which the Chinese side is to funnel some $1 billion into petrochemical projects in Iran, reported the [...]

Fresh floods in China’s northeastern Liaoning province have forced more than 120,000 people to evacuate their homes and thousands to relocate in North Korea. China’s Civil Affairs Ministry said late Saturday that 127,000 people had been evacuated in Liaoning province in just three days due to the rains, AFP said. Heavy summer downpours have dangerously [...]

Trade exchanges between Iran and the world’s major powers have seen a 13.78% rise in the first four months of the Iranian calendar year, despite the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic. From March 21 to July 22, the volume of trade between Iran and the P5+1 states — the permanent members of the UN [...]

Chinese officials say the crash of a North Korean military aircraft in northeastern China was due to technical malfunctions that caused the plane to lose direction. The pilot lost direction due to unspecified mechanical failures straying into Chinese territory, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported. North Korea has apologized to china for the incident and [...]

A report by the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers places Iran on the list of top-five global car producers with the most growth in 2009. Iran’s car production showed a 9.5 percent growth last year, ranking fifth on the OICA chart after China, Taiwan, Romania and India. With the total production of 1,395,421 cars, [...]

After three decades of impressive growth, China has finally overtaken Japan to become the world’s second largest economy behind the United States. As anticipated, the world will now have to reckon with a new economic superpower as China’s economy has been valued at $1.33 trillion in the second quarter, compared with Japan’s $1.28 trillion, according [...]

The Iranian deputy commerce minister says the nation’s exports of technical-engineering services have grown by 30% year on year. “Contractors have signed $942mn worth of contracts with neighboring and African nations on technical-engineering projects, which show a 30-percent rise over the similar period last year” Babak Afghahi was quoted by IRNA as saying on Sunday. [...]

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has offered condolences to China over the country’s devastating landslide which has left more than 1,200 people dead. In a message to his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, the Iranian chief executive extended his condolences to the government and people of China over the country’s recent floods and the ensuing landslide in [...]

A senior Chinese official has strongly condemned the second round of joint US-South Korea naval exercises. Rear Admiral Yang Yi wrote in a commentary published in Friday edition of China Daily that the drills are a fresh provocation “to China and its surrounding region.” He said Washington will pay a “costly price” for its decision [...]

As the US and its European allies are trying to increase unilateral sanctions against Iran, other major states show bold resistance to the punitive measures. “China, Russia, India and Turkey move into the lucrative void left by US and EU sanctions that aim to halt Iran’s nuclear program,” Los Angeles Times wrote on Sunday. On [...]

China is reportedly developing a game-changing new naval missile that can pave the way for ending the US dominance at sea, experts say. The missile, named the Dong Feng 21D, can be launched from land to destroy the most advanced moving aircraft carrier 900 miles away. “The emerging Chinese anti-ship missile capability, and in particular [...]

Amid strong objection from China, the United States and Vietnam are holding talks on a controversial agreement to share fuel and nuclear technology. US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Hanoi is entitled to enrich uranium. “The United States and Vietnam are engaged in a so-called… 1-2-3 negotiation that… [...]

China has defended its economic ties with Iran after a senior US official called on Beijing to adopt the UN sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu, Beijing’s business relations with Tehran will not harm the interests of other countries. “China’s trade with Iran is a normal [...]

China has launched its fifth satellite from the Xi Chang Center in the southern Sichuan Province as part of its GPS satellite navigation system. BeiDou-2 IGSO-1 was placed into orbit via the CZ-3A Chang Zheng-3A (CZ3A-17/Y16) launch vehicle on Sunday at 5:30 a.m. local time. China launched its satellite system project in 2000 using the [...]

A worldwide treaty banning the use of cluster bombs has come into force to become binding international law in countries that have signed and ratified it. The Convention on Cluster Munitions bans the production, use, stockpiling, and transfer of cluster weapons after it was adopted at a conference in Ireland in 2008. The Convention has [...]