Prior to his travel to China for the 12th SCO summit meeting, president Ahmadinejad told reporters that he will meet his counterparts from the SCO member states and a number of senior Chinese officials on various global issues on the sidelines of the SCO meeting.

He said Iran as an observer has been playing active role in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meetings held in the past seven years.

President Ahmadinejad said there are significant potentials for fostering cooperation among the SCO member countries and its observers.

On Tehran-Beijing relations, he said the two countries enjoy high level of economic cooperation, adding China is Iran's major trade partner.