Figures reported by Irans state news agency IRNA show that imports from China since 2013 when President Hassan Rouhani was elected to office had already reached $43.7 billion.
Imports from 2009 to 2013 when former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in office stood at $26.2 billion.
Mohammad Saeidnejad, the managing director of Irans Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO), was quoted by IRNA as saying that almost all exports to Iran were made through a mechanism known as trans-ship over the years that the country was under sanctions.
The mechanism, Saeidnejad said, envisaged delivering cargos at secondary ports in neighboring countries mainly the UAE before final shipments were done through small boats to Irans southern ports.
Now that the sanctions have been lifted, most of the goods that Iran imports are shipped directly by 18 global freight forwarders which are now free to call at Irans ports, he added.
This, the official emphasized, has already made China Irans primary import destination instead of the UAE.
IRNAs report further wrote that the combination of goods imported from China included machinery, electronic devices, steel, iron, clothes, chemicals, household utensils and plastic items.
On a separate front, the report added that Irans non-oil exports to China valued at a total of $32.4 billion - had also increased over the past four years. Exports over the second tenure of Ahmadinejads presidency (2009-2013) stood at $18.7 billion.
The main non-oil items exported during Rouhanis term included iron ore, chrome, iron ore concentrate, sulphur and different kinds of stones.
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