Spotlight: Iraqi PM's China visit to boost strategic partnership, cooperation: analysts

Source: Xinhua| 2019-09-28 01:42:35|Editor: yan
Video PlayerClose

BAGHDAD, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- The visit of the Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi to China has resulted in important agreements that will strengthen strategic cooperation and partnership between the two countries, Iraqi analysts said.

Abdul Mahdi's media office said in a statement that, during a meeting on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, the Iraqi premier said that "the Iraqi people are grateful for the support China has offered to stand with us against terrorism and in the reconstruction of Iraq."

Iraq wants China to be a partner in the development of Iraq's infrastructure, Abdul Mahdi was quoted as saying.

One of the most important deals signed in Beijing was the framework agreement between the Iraqi Finance Ministry and China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation, known as Sinosure.

The statement explained the idea is to create a framework credit to finance major infrastructure projects from the Iraqi oil exported to China.

For his part, Luay al-Khateeb, Iraq's electricity minister, who was part of Abdul Mahdi's delegation to China, said in a statement that the financial framework will start with 10 billion U.S. dollars for a certain quantity of Iraqi oil to constitute a basic fund to finance a number of infrastructure projects.

The Iraqi government led by Abdul Mahdi has adopted the policy of oil for reconstruction and investments, eyeing cooperation with China as a long-term strategic partner, al-Khateeb said.

"We went to China seeking speed in execution, efficiency in production, quality in production and competition in offers as well as advanced technologies and an honest, balanced long-term strategic partnership," al-Khateeb added.

The Iraqi delegation also signed memorandums of understanding with several Chinese ministries, as well as one on the diplomatic side and another on the security level, the Secretariat for the Council of Ministers said in a statement.

Najib al-Jubouri, a politics lecturer in al-Nahrain University, told Xinhua that the advantage of economic and trade cooperation between Iraq and China is a complementary process for each country.

Al-Jubouri said that the agreements with China will benefit Iraq's institutions through easing their financial pressures and speed up the reconstruction process in the country.

"With the gradual stabilization of the Iraqi political situation, the continuous improvement of the security situation as well as the improvement of the business environment in Iraq, the economic and trade cooperation between China and Iraq will further deepen," al-Jubouri added.

Basim Jamil Antoine, an expert in economics, said in an interview with the state-run Iraqiya channel that the agreements signed with China must be approved by the parliament.

Antoine said that such approval is useful and important because it creates appropriate conditions for the implementation of the agreements by providing the needed monitoring and follow-ups by the lawmakers.

China's Ambassador to Iraq Zhang Tao told Iraqi media earlier in the month that China looks forward to making joint efforts with Iraq to deepen the bilateral relations.

The total trade between China and Iraq exceeded 30 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, as China is the biggest trade partner of Iraq. And Iraq is the second biggest oil supplier to China, and the fourth biggest trading partner of China in the Middle East.

TOP STORIES
EDITOR’S CHOICE
MOST VIEWED
EXPLORE XINHUANET
010020070750000000000000011105521384293071