OREANDA-NEWS. February 11, 2014. Tehran and Beijing plan to launch a cargo airline, Chinese Ambassador to Tehran, Yu Hongyang, said, the Iranian Tadbir24 News Website reported.

"The two countries' private sectors will jointly create the airline," he said.

"A Chinese company has proposed launching the airlines to an Iranian company and the two sides have agreed to carry out the projects," Yu Hongyang said.

"The two countries' private sectors can also launch a special shipping line," he added.

Iran is currently China's third largest supplier of crude, providing Beijing with roughly 12 percent of its total annual oil consumption, the Fars News Agency reported.

China plans to purchase 240,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil from its main supplier, Iran, this year.

Beijing also more than doubled its crude oil imports from Iran in November 2013 month-on-month.