Iran, China sign 4 MoUs to expand bilateral coop.

TEHRAN, Jun. 11(MNA) – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed on bolstering bilateral ties in a Sunday meeting on the sidelines of the SCO) summit in the Chinese port city of Qingdao. In a bid to expand bilateral cooperation between Tehran and Beijing, the two countries of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the People Republic of China signed four Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) on Sunday. The signing was carried out in front of the Iranian President Rouhani and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Chinese port city of Qingdao where the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit was held. These pacts were in the field of joint research projects, preventing and fighting illegal production, trafficking and misuse of narcotics, psychotropic drugs and precursors, cooperation and technical help in the field of securities, and formation of bilateral Iran-China cooperation plans within the framework of the initiative of ring roads and roads. Prior to meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Rouhani held one-on-one meetings with Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi on Sunday. Earlier on Saturday, President Rouhani held separate bilateral meetings with the presidents of Pakistan, Russia, Belarus, and Afghanistan. Rouhani is in China to take part at the 18th Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit where he delivered a speech on Sunday on the prospect of expansion of cooperation among the SCO member states and the future of the JCPOA after the US pullout. The Iranian president is accompanied by high-ranking political and economic figures including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh, Minister of Economy Masoud Karbasian, Vice President for Economic Affairs Mohammad Nahavandian, and Governor of Central Bank of Iran Valiollah Seif. Mr. Rouhani is slated to leave the Chinese port city of Qingdao for Iranian capital city of Tehran late on Sunday.