Beijing pushes tariff relief for Iraqi exports
Shafaq News – Baghdad
China is seeking to reduce customs tariffs on Iraqi products as part of efforts to deepen economic ties between both countries, a senior Chinese official said on Sunday.
Speaking at a seminar in Baghdad on China’s new development plan and prospects for Iraq-China cooperation, Jin Xin, Assistant Minister at the International Relations Department of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee, described relations between Beijing and Baghdad as grounded in long-standing civilizational links and reinforced by “growing trust.”
While citing coordination with Iraq ahead of an Arab League summit scheduled to be held in China next year, he pointed to a late-2022 meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and caretaker Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on the sidelines of the China-Arab States Summit in Riyadh, where both leaders agreed to advance their strategic partnership.
Iraq-China Ties
Bilateral cooperation between both countries has expanded under a Framework Agreement signed in December 2021, which established collaboration in education, energy, and infrastructure, including China’s commitment to support the construction of 1,000 schools under Iraq’s national education reform plan.
Economic relations have continued to grow. Official data show that China’s direct exports to Iraq reached $8.8 billion in the first half of 2025, up 9.3% year on year, while Iraq’s exports to China—mainly crude oil—totaled $17.7 billion. In 2024, Iraq ranked among China’s top 20 trading partners, with bilateral trade estimated at about $54.2 billion.
Energy remains a core pillar of the relationship, with Chinese companies active across several of Iraq’s largest oil fields. In September, Baghdad signed a contract with China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering to build a 950-kilometer pipeline network to transport treated seawater to southern oil fields.
Read more: Iraq’s oil pivot: Balancing Beijing’s muscle and Washington’s comeback
Cooperation also extends to regional connectivity projects, including China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to link Eurasian countries across roughly 70 nations, and Iraq’s Development Road project, a planned trade corridor connecting the Gulf region to Europe.
