China has signed a $13 billion contract to construct a railroad network in the
Islamic Republic, Iran's Construction and Development of Transportation
Infrastructures Company has announced.
The railroad network will extend 5,300 kilometers (3,293 miles) and consists of
eight lines, the company said in a statement published on its website on
Tuesday.
The managing director of the company, Massoud Rahnama, said that Tehran and
Beijing have also agreed to collaborate in many other railroad projects in Iran.
"We signed a 130 trillion rial (around $13 billion) contract to build more than
5,300 kilometers of railway lines," the official added, noting that Iran and
China will also cooperate in transferring railroad construction technology and
building related factories.
He had earlier said that the Iran-China Railroad Office was set up to facilitate
the implementation of the projects.
The eight railroad lines are the Tehran-Mashhad line with a length of over 900
kilometers, the Tehran-Qom-Esfahan line with a length of 410 kilometers, the
Qazvin-Rasht-Anzali-Astara line with a length of more than 370 kilometers, the
Arak-Kermanshah-Khosravi line with a length of 569 kilometers, the
Chabahar-Zahedan-Mashhad line with a length of about 1,340 kilometers, the
Gorgan-Bojnourd-Mashhad line with a length of 646 kilometers, the Tehran-Hamedan-Sanandaj
line with a length of 408 kilometers, and the Sari-Rasht line with a length of
366 kilometers.
Earlier in the month, the Sino-Iranian Chamber of Commerce Chairman Asadollah
Asgaroladi said that direct trade between the two countries currently stands at
$30 billion.
He underlined that bilateral trade stood at $21.2 billion in 2009, a
considerable increase from $400 million around 15 years ago.
Asgaroladi also said China conducts $7 billion of indirect trade with Iran
annually through the United Arab Emirates.
