Iraq ‘keen to activate’ economic agreement with China: PM Kadhimi

In late 2021, Kadhimi signed an agreement with China to construct 1,000 schools in Iraq. 
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (center) during his meeting with China's outgoing Ambassador to Iraq Zhang Tao, (left), Feb. 14, 2022. (Photo: Iraqi PM media office)
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi (center) during his meeting with China's outgoing Ambassador to Iraq Zhang Tao, (left), Feb. 14, 2022. (Photo: Iraqi PM media office)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi told Chinese Ambassador Zhang Tao that his government is keen to activate the China-Iraq Framework Agreement and implement all of its clauses, according to an official statement.

Kadhimi received the Chinese emissary to the country in a farewell meeting in Baghdad, according to the prime minister’s media office. 

“The government is keen to activate the Iraqi-Chinese Framework Agreement and implement all its clauses,” Kadhimi told the outgoing diplomat in Baghdad. 

The Iraqi Prime Minister also said he welcomes Chinese companies investing in his country and expressed his willingness to help facilitate their work, according to the statement. 

In 2019, China and Iraq signed an economic deal that will allow Chinese companies to invest in infrastructure projects. Under the agreement, China will provide a $10 billion loan for these projects that Iraq will repay with 100,000 barrels of oil per day. 

The deal, negotiated and signed by the former prime ministers Adel Abdul Mahdi and Haidar al-Abadi, drew widespread controversy given its size and lack of transparency. Furthermore, the Iraqi Parliament did not review it before it was signed. 

The deal’s projects include vital infrastructural projects for public services such as schools, highways, airports, and water treatment plants, the lack of which partially fueled the popular widespread October 2019 protests across the country. 

In late 2021, Kadhimi signed an agreement with China to construct 1,000 schools in Iraq. 

Read More: China to build 1,000 schools across Iraq under new deals