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On Wednesday, 15 Aban 1404 (6 November 2025), an Iranian delegation, at the invitation of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS), visited this prestigious think tank. The visit took place within the framework of scientific and research programmes between the Iranian Institute for Belt and Road Studies and its Chinese partner institutions. Its aim was to strengthen intercultural ties, expand research cooperation, and establish sustainable platforms for academic and economic interaction between Iran and China.<\/span><\/p>\n The Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS) is one of the leading think tanks of the People’s Republic of China. Founded in 1960 and operating under the supervision of the Shanghai municipal government, it is among the influential centres in the formulation and analysis of China’s foreign policy. SIIS conducts extensive research in the fields of international relations, global security, regional policies, and global governance. Since its establishment, many heads of state, diplomats, and academics from around the world have visited the institute.<\/span><\/p>\n During the official meeting of this visit, the host side was represented by: Professor Jin Liangxiang, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic and International Security Studies and a prominent expert on Iran and Middle East studies; Dr. Zhu Yiqi, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for Public Policy and Innovation Studies, specialising in regional security and theories of international relations; and Dr. Yu Haiji, Research Fellow at the Institute for Global Governance Studies.<\/span><\/p>\n The Iranian delegation comprised notable figures, including: Dr. Alaeddin Boroujerdi, Chairman of the Iran\u2011China Friendship Association and former Ambassador of Iran to Beijing, who has played a key role for years in foreign policy and the development of Tehran\u2011Beijing relations; Dr. Gholamali Khoshroo, former Representative of Iran to the United Nations and a seasoned diplomat; Dr. Ali\u2011Mohammad Sabaghi, former Cultural Counsellor of Iran in China and active researcher in the field of cultural relations between Iran and East Asia; Engineer Ebrahim Yousefnejad, Head of the Commercial Center of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Shanghai and Director of the Iranian Institute for Belt and Road Studies; along with Engineer Ali Vosoughi, Deputy Director of the Institute; Dr. Amir\u2011Mohammad Esmaeili, Secretary\u2011General of the Institute; Dr. Fahimeh Sabaghi, researcher in China studies; and Dr. Mohammad Boroujerdi, Advisor and Head of Dr. Boroujerdi’s office.<\/span><\/p>\n At the start of the meeting, Professor Jin Liangxiang welcomed the Iranian delegation and presented an overview of SIIS’s activities. Referring to the institute’s position within the intellectual structure of China’s foreign policy, he stated that SIIS is one of the few think tanks that acts as a bridge between the academic community and China’s decision\u2011making bodies, and that it also actively engages in discussions related to the Belt and Road Initiative. He added that the institute has so far hosted many prominent political leaders and academics, including former Iranian President Dr. Hassan Rouhani, and that intellectual engagement with Iran holds special importance for the institute.<\/span><\/p>\n Dr. Alaeddin Boroujerdi then expressed his gratitude for the warm Chinese hospitality and emphasised the historical and cultural depth of bilateral relations. He said: “Iran and China are two great Asian civilisations with a history of several thousand years, having interacted with each other throughout history via the Silk Road. Today too, these two nations, drawing upon their civilisational values and mutual interests, can present a model of constructive cooperation to the contemporary world.” Referring to cultural commonalities, he considered the role of scientific institutions vital for developing sustainable cooperation between the two countries and stressed that dialogue among think tanks can strengthen the ground for mutual understanding.<\/span><\/p>\n Following him, Dr. Zhu Yiqi examined geopolitical developments in the Middle East and, emphasising Iran’s role in establishing stability and the balance of power in the region, said: “China’s foreign policy is based on the principles of mutual respect and non\u2011interference, and Tehran and Beijing can elevate their strategic partnership to a more practical level within the framework of the new global order.” He also stressed that Iran\u2011China relations should go beyond economic cooperation and extend to civilisational dialogue and joint policy\u2011making in international arenas.<\/span><\/p>\n In another part of the meeting, Dr. Gholamali Khoshroo, referring to the importance of think\u2011tank diplomacy, said: “In today’s world, think tanks are the intellectual arm of countries’ foreign policy and play an important role in shaping perceptions and public opinion. Iran and China should strive to develop their mutual understanding through direct academic and media interaction, rather than through Western narratives.” He also welcomed the joint activities of the Iranian Institute for Belt and Road Studies in Shanghai and considered it a valuable communicative capacity between researchers of the two countries.<\/span><\/p>\n Dr. Yu Haiji, in his remarks, referred to his recent travel experience to Iran and, sharing his observations of the country’s progress in various fields, said: “Iran, despite difficult economic conditions, has been able to continue its development path by relying on domestic capacities, which is highly noteworthy for Chinese researchers.” He also emphasised the role of Iran and China in the Belt and Road Initiative and the necessity of joint cooperation in the field of global governance based on multilateralism.<\/span><\/p>\n Dr. Ali\u2011Mohammad Sabaghi, drawing on his experiences in cultural cooperation, stressed the importance of scientific, educational, and cultural interactions between the two nations. He added that cultural relations are the foundation of economic and political relations, and that continuous dialogue among academics, artists, and intellectual elites can deepen mutual understanding and trust. He emphasised: “We need to expand the culture of dialogue among academics, artists, and intellectual elites of Iran and China, because such dialogue builds the trust that makes strategic cooperation possible.”<\/span><\/p>\n Finally, Engineer Ebrahim Yousefnejad, Head of the Commercial Center of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Shanghai and Director of the Iranian Institute for Belt and Road Studies, expressed his gratitude for the cordial hospitality of SIIS and stressed the importance of sustaining scientific and commercial cooperation between the two countries. He stated that geopolitical developments in the Middle East in recent years have shown that Iran\u2011China relations possess high strategic capacity to withstand external pressures and create new development paths. The Iranian Commercial Center in Shanghai and the Iranian Institute for Belt and Road Studies are ready, in cooperation with partner institutions, to implement joint projects in trade, education, and research.<\/span><\/p>\n At the end of the meeting, the two sides emphasised the necessity of continuing exchanges of research delegations, holding joint meetings, and designing educational and study programmes within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. It was also proposed that in the near future, a delegation from SIIS visit the Iranian Institute for Belt and Road Studies in order to examine the grounds for mutual cooperation in greater detail.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Wednesday, 15 Aban 1404 (6 November 2025), an Iranian delegation, at the invitation of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies (SIIS), visited this prestigious think tank. The visit took place within the framework of scientific and research programmes between the Iranian Institute for Belt and Road Studies and its Chinese partner institutions. Its aim […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":3446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,52,93],"tags":[],"coauthors":[45],"class_list":["post-3455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-institute-news","category-picture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranbri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranbri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranbri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranbri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranbri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3455"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iranbri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3456,"href":"https:\/\/iranbri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3455\/revisions\/3456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranbri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iranbri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranbri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranbri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3455"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iranbri.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}