Seif: The Chinese have allocated $38 billion in facilities and financing for Iran

The head of Iran's Central Bank, who has traveled to China, states that banks and financial institutions in this country have allocated approximately $35 billion in facilities and financing for Iran. During Valiollah Seif's visit to China, a $10 billion credit agreement and several memoranda of understanding were signed between the banks of the two countries. In this regard, a Chinese state investment company has announced its agreement to allocate $10 billion in credit to five Iranian banks. According to ISNA news agency, this agreement was signed by Iranian banks Parsian, Parsarghard, Refah Kargaran, Industry and Mine, Export Development Bank, and the Chinese bank 'CITIC Group'. At the signing ceremony in Beijing, Valiollah Seif, the head of the Central Bank, Ali Asghar Khaji, Iran's ambassador, Mohammad Khazaei, head of the Investment Organization, CITIC bank managers, and managers of Iranian banks were present. According to Mohammad Khazaei, Deputy Minister of Economy and head of the Investment and Technical and Economic Assistance Organization of Iran, 'The $10 billion credit line agreement with CITIC Group China and five Iranian banks is the first major contract between Iran and China after the JCPOA.' This credit line is set to be invested in projects related to the water, energy, and transportation sectors. Additionally, during Valiollah Seif's visit to China, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Central Bank of Iran and the China Development Bank for up to $15 billion. The head of the Central Bank of Iran expressed hope that the main and comprehensive contracts of this memorandum of understanding would be signed as soon as possible and reach the operational stage. Valiollah Seif also reported on negotiations with China's 'Exim Bank' and stated: 'In this meeting, both countries accepted a ceiling of $10 billion, and we hope that with the dispatch of the Exim Bank team to Iran in the coming days, we will reach an agreement quickly, and the overall contract will be signed.' According to the head of the Central Bank of Iran, Exim Bank has concluded 'the largest credit line for financing with Iran regarding the Tehran-Mashhad railway for $1.7 billion.' The credit line from China will be in yuan and euros to avoid unilateral U.S. sanctions. China is one of the signatories of the JCPOA, and AFP has reminded that Xi Jinping, the President of China, visited Iran just a week after the JCPOA was implemented and promised that the volume of trade between Iran and China would reach $600 billion over a decade. In 2016, the trade volume between the two countries was only $31 billion, but it experienced a 30% jump in the first half of 2017. China is the largest oil customer and allocated a credit line worth $4.2 billion for the construction of high-speed railway lines between Tehran-Mashhad and Tehran-Isfahan after the sanctions were lifted. Last month, South Korea also allocated a credit line worth 8 billion euros to Iran. Despite the lifting of nuclear sanctions, European banks are still cautious about entering the Iranian market. The main concern of these banks is potential U.S. sanctions.