Iran proposed five measures to increase Chinese tourist arrivals, including joint travel packages, in a message read at a meeting in Beijing on Friday, Tehran Times reported.
The proposals were set out in a message from Iran's Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts, Seyyed Reza Salehi-Amiri, according to Iran's Tehran Times. It was read at a specialised meeting on Iran-China tourism cooperation.
The meeting was hosted by Iran's embassy in Beijing. Officials and representatives of tourism companies from both countries discussed barriers to travel, joint tourism products and cooperation between tour operators, the newspaper reported.
Three of the five proposals were detailed in the report. They are a joint working group of Iranian and Chinese travel agencies and tour operators, and at least three travel packages tailored to the Chinese market.
The third is a series of familiarisation tours in Iran for Chinese travel agency executives and journalists. The remaining two proposals focused on providing services suited to Chinese visitors, according to Tehran Times.
The Iranian state-run Mehr news agency also reported on the meeting. It said Mr Salehi-Amiri called for China to become one of Iran's most important tourism partners.
Tehran Times said the minister described the meeting as a chance to move from dialogue to implementation. It reported that he said success depended on moving beyond discussions to concrete agreements.
The meeting marked the 55th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Iran and China. Iran and China established diplomatic relations in 1971.
No response from the Chinese government, the Chinese embassy or China's tourism industry had been reported. The reports did not give a numerical target for Chinese arrivals. The only figure in the proposals was the minimum of three travel packages.
Both Tehran Times and Mehr are Iranian state-linked outlets, and their reports of the meeting were published on the same day. The ministry's own statement on the message had not been seen.
Mr Salehi-Amiri has said several times that he wants China to become a leading tourism partner for Iran. Tehran Times reported in September 2025 that he made the case when he spoke to the ministry's strategic council.
He later met China's culture and tourism minister, Sun Yeli, at the UN Tourism General Assembly, according to a Tehran Times report on 10 November 2025. On 26 November 2025, the newspaper reported that he visited Chongqing at the head of a delegation.
On 12 June 2026, Mehr reported that Mr Salehi-Amiri met China's vice minister of culture and tourism, Gao Zheng, at the UN Tourism Executive Council. Tehran Times said the two countries were working on a joint roadmap for tourism.
Chinese visitor numbers to Iran have been modest. Tehran Times reported in September 2025 that China's ambassador to Tehran said about 60,000 Chinese tourists visit Iran each year. That figure comes from that one report.
Tehran Times has also reported that China is Iran's largest trading partner. It described the aim of the latest proposals as turning longstanding cultural ties into tangible tourism business.
Iran's foreign minister visited Beijing in May 2026 and said Iran would use the anniversary of diplomatic relations to strengthen exchanges, according to a secondary report. China's state broadcaster CGTN ran a feature on the 55 years of ties in August 2026.
The reports did not say when the proposed working group would be formed or when the first travel packages would be offered.
Photo: DAVID HOLT from London, England / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
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