Press TV - Official figures show Iran�s imports from China saw a major rise over the past four years in what is seen as a result of the removal of sanctions against the country and the subsequent return of global shipping lines to its ports. �

Figures reported by Iran�s 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 Iran�s 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 Iran�s 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 Iran�s ports,� he added.

This, the official emphasized, has already made China Iran�s primary import destination instead of the UAE.

IRNA�s 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 Iran�s 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 Ahmadinejad�s presidency (2009-2013) stood at $18.7 billion.

The main non-oil items exported during Rouhani�s term included iron ore, chrome, iron ore concentrate, sulphur and different kinds of stones.