Yahoo – AFP,
15 February 2016
 |
Iranian
officials applaud on the platform as the first train connecting China and
Iran
arrives at Tehran Railway Station on February 15, 2016 (AFP Photo)
|
Tehran
(AFP) - The first train to connect China and Iran arrived in Tehran on Monday
loaded with Chinese goods, reviving the ancient Silk Road, the Iranian railway
company said.
The train,
carrying 32 containers of commercial products from eastern Zhejiang province,
took 14 days to make the 9,500-kilometre (5,900-mile) journey through Kazakstan
and Turkmenistan.
"The
arrival of this train in less than 14 days is unprecedented," said the
head of the Iranian railway company, Mohsen Pourseyed Aqayi.
"The
revival of the Silk Road is crucial for the countries on its route," he
said at a ceremony at Tehran's rail station attended by the ambassadors of
China and Turkmenistan.
The journey
was 30 days shorter than the sea voyage from Shanghai to the Iranian port of
Bandar Abbas, according to Aqayi.
The railway
will not stop in Tehran "as we are planning to extend the railway to
Europe in future," generating more income for Iran from passing trains, he
added.
The train
will leave every month and the frequency will be increased if necessary, Aqayi
said.
The train
is run by private companies using existing routes, Iranian railway company
spokesman Sadegh Sakari told AFP.
 |
A container
on the first train connecting China and Iran pictured upon its arrival
at
Tehran Railway Station on February 15, 2016 (AFP Photo)
|
According
to Iranian media, more than a third of Iran's foreign trade is with China,
which is Tehran's top customer for oil exports.
Chinese
President Xi Jinping and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani agreed last month to
build economic ties worth up to $600 billion within the next 10 years.
It came
during a visit to Iran by Xi, the first by a Chinese president in 14 years, and
just days after sanctions against Tehran were lifted under a historic nuclear
deal with world powers.
Xi's
signature foreign policy initiative known as "One Belt One Road" is
touted as a revival of ancient Silk Road trade routes.
The Silk
Road is an ancient network of commercial land and sea routes, named for the
lucrative Chinese silk trade, that were central to business across the Asian
continent connecting China to the Mediterranean Sea.
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