TEHRAN, April 23 (Xinhua) -- Iranian experts have highlighted the significant role culture can play in contributing to the development of Iran-China relations in various fields.

"In recent years, the expansion of relations between Iran and China has created a golden opportunity for the two countries' peoples to know each other's cultures and civilizational manifestations better and more precisely," said Mohammad-Amir Jalali, president of the Center for Chinese Research at Iran's Allameh Tabataba'i University.

Jalali made the remarks on the sidelines of a conference in Iran's capital Tehran on Monday to commemorate the prominent Iranian poet and prose writer Saadi Shirazi (1210-1292), which aimed to show the ancient cultural ties between Iran and China based on Saadi's works.

Both Iran and china own ancient civilizations, the expert said, expressing his hope that the two countries "would show greater willingness and make more serious efforts to promote bilateral cultural exchanges," which would promote "a stronger friendship between the two peoples by gaining greater knowledge of and familiarity with each other."

The greater knowledge of the two countries' peoples of each other in the cultural area and their accurate understanding of one another would help further promote Iran-China relations in other areas on the right track, he said.

Echoing similar views, Ali-Mohammad Sabeqi, Iran's former cultural attache in China, said culture has provided a context for expanding relations between the two countries in various fields, including the political, economic, trade, military and security ones.

Sabeqi, also a researcher in the field of Chinese culture, told Xinhua that the potential for cultural cooperation between Iran and China was as vast as the history of their bilateral relations.

"The two countries have numerous capacities and potentials for bilateral cooperation in the areas of art, culture, literature, film production, cinema and especially archeology and can work on them," he said, noting that numerous Iranian artifacts and works had been, and were being found, in China's archeological sites.

Moreover, Sabeqi listed some of the common values upheld both in the Iranian and Chinese societies and cultures, including attaching great importance to peace and family, respecting the elderly, and helping each other.

"The Iranians and Chinese share a lot in common in terms of their attitudes towards humans and human society, which have prepared the ground for cooperation between their countries," he said. Enditem

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