Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ Sabbar al-Sudani (left). Photo: Media Office of the Iraqi Prime Minister.
Chinese investment has sparked the rise of many significant infrastructure projects in Iraq
Beijing is fully committed to “friendly” ties with Baghdad and “actively participates” in Iraq’s reconstruction, a Chinese official told Kurdish news outlet Rudaw on 3 January.
“China and Iraq share friendly relations; as a sincere friend China actively participates in Iraq and the reconstruction of the country,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told Rudaw at a press briefing in Beijing.
He added that the Chinese presence in Iraq has been “well received by the government and the people.” “We are ready to work with Iraq for further progress,” the spokesman said.
Trade between China and Iraq reached around $50 billion last year. China is the largest importer of Iraqi oil.
Ties between Baghdad and Beijing have developed significantly recently, and Chinese firms have increased their presence there.
In 2019, Iraq signed a 20-year contract, agreeing to supply Chinese firms with 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, with the revenue earmarked for funding various development projects in Iraq undertaken by Chinese firms.
Following the deal, Chinese firms built 1,000 schools, developed the Nasiriya city airport, erected power plants, and completed several other infrastructure projects.
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China has accelerated its investment in Iraq and other West Asian nations as part of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), announced in 2013.
Last month, Iraq began work on 30,000 housing units near Baghdad as part of a $2 billion project in partnership with Chinese firms to build five new cities across Iraq.
Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani seeks to build 250,000 to 300,000 housing units for poor and middle-class families. A new city on the outskirts of Baghdad will include universities, commercial centers, schools, and health centers and should be completed in four to five years.
Iraqi infrastructure suffered significantly during the US invasion of the country in 2003 and the several-year war that ensued.
This latest step in Chinese-Iraqi cooperation comes as Iraq continues to fall under attack by the US army.
In October, Iraqi resistance factions banded together under a single coalition to confront US bases in Iraq and Syria. The attacks – which have been ongoing – are a show of solidarity with the resistance in Gaza and a rejection of US support for Israel’s assault on the strip.
They also aim to hasten the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq. The US has responded with several violent attacks on Iraq and its sovereignty.
The latest took place on Thursday and resulted in the death of Mushtaq Talib al-Saidi, the leader of the 12th brigade of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), also known as the Al-Nujaba Movement.
