| Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday he wanted the annual volume of Iran-China trade to grow to 100 billion dollars, state media reported. In a meeting with a senior Chinese Communist Party official, He Guoqiang, Ahmadinejad said that after 40 years of diplomatic ties, the immediate aim should be increasing the annual trade volume from 30 billion dollars annually at present. Hes visit was to mark four decades of diplomatic relations. The two states signed six cooperation accords worth 4 billion dollars in fields such as water, mining, energy and industry. Bilateral trade is expected by both sides to reach 40 billion dollars by the end of 2011. Iran is Chinas third-largest crude oil supplier, providing almost 12 per cent of Chinas total annual oil consumption. International sanctions against Iran and the withdrawal of western companies enabled China to become the leading trade partner of Iran, replacing Germany which had ranked at the top for almost three decades. China has also been an important strategic partner of Iran. Although approving UN Security Council sanctions against Irans nuclear projects, Beijing has cultivated close political and economic relations with Iran despite protests by Western nations. | 
