China-Iran Nuclear Cooperation: Officials, experts gather in Beijing to discuss collaboration

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China and Iran have held a joint seminar on civil nuclear cooperation. Officials and nuclear experts gathered in Beijing to discuss potential collaborations under the framework of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal.

This is their first bilateral seminar on Civil Nuclear Cooperation under the Joint Comprehensive Program of Action, or the Iran Nuclear Deal.

It comes amid mounting uncertainty over the Deal, as US President Donald Trump is considering pulling out and imposing sanctions.

China, as a key party to the landmark deal, is offering solutions.

DONG ZHIHUA, DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL ARMS CONTROL DEPT CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY "China is committed to the full implementation and continuous implementation of JCPOA. And all the other E3 countries -- Russia, United States, the three European countries as the EU -- have sent their observers to the seminar. I think itself demonstrates they are also still committed to JCPOA at least at this moment."

Implemented in July 2015, the JCPOA was struck between Iran and five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany and the European Union.

During Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Iran in 2016, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Following Wednesday's seminar, Iranian officials and nuclear experts will pay a visit to the Hualong One project, China's third-generation nuclear power reactor, in Southeast China's Fujian province. As Chinese nuclear power technologies are going global, more opportunities are in store.

BEHROOZ KAMALVANDI, VICE PRESIDENT ATOMIC ENERGY ORGANIZATION, IRAN "The most important is people in both countries to work together, that's the key of this kind of seminars. We have cooperated in nuclear reactors, capacity building and nuclear technology."

Unlike fossil-fuel power plants, nuclear facilities do not generate emissions. Thus, developing the civil nuclear industry has become a common goal of the international community.

Whether the US will take real moves against the current Iran nuclear deal is still unclear. The next deadline of May 12th may offer us an answer.