CHINA has rejected US pressure to sever its economic ties with Iran, warning that its relationship with Tehran “should not be disrupted or undermined” after Washington imposed fresh sanctions on Chinese entities accused of supporting the Iranian economy.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Beijing would take “all necessary measures” to safeguard its interests, signalling that President Xi Jinping’s government has no intention of abandoning Tehran despite the Trump administration’s escalating economic campaign against Iran.
Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that the warning came hours after the United States sanctioned dozens of Chinese entities and threatened to target an unspecified major financial institution over its dealings with Iran.
The confrontation risks opening another front in already strained US-China relations as President Donald Trump intensifies efforts to economically isolate Iran and pressure Tehran into negotiations.
China has emerged as Iran’s most important economic lifeline and its biggest buyer of Iranian oil, giving Beijing considerable leverage over the effectiveness of Washington’s sanctions campaign.
“China wants the conflict contained, but it has little reason to help Trump end it without receiving something in return,” said Jesse Marks, founder of Rihla Research & Advisory and a former Middle East policy adviser in the US government.
For Beijing, the conflict also presents strategic advantages. The United States has redeployed its only Asia-based aircraft carrier to the Middle East, while American forces have cancelled an exercise with South Korea because of deployment demands linked to the conflict around Iran.
The diversion of US military resources could give China greater room to pursue its territorial claims in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.
China could nevertheless consider limited concessions to Washington, including reducing purchases of Iranian oil further, keeping proceeds from such transactions within Chinese banks or tightening controls on Chinese-made dual-use components that could reach Iran’s weapons programmes.
But any significant move by Beijing would probably come at a price.
“Washington likely knows China will not comply with America’s requests on Iran, but is hoping it can nudge Beijing into making some smaller concessions,” said John Gong, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing who has worked as a consultant for China’s Commerce Ministry.
“Iran has been subject to sanctions for so long and the country never buckled. Why would it be different this time?” he added.
The issue comes ahead of a planned Sept 24 meeting between Trump and Xi in Washington, where the two leaders are expected to seek to preserve a fragile trade truce between the world’s two largest economies.
Beijing has already reduced purchases of discounted Iranian crude as US pressure and a naval blockade squeeze supplies. But Xi is unlikely to abandon China’s broader relationship with Tehran simply to accommodate Washington.
At the same time, both sides have incentives to prevent the dispute from escalating into another major economic confrontation.
China’s dominance of the global rare earths supply chain gives Beijing a powerful economic weapon, particularly because the minerals are essential to industries ranging from consumer electronics to advanced weapons.
Xi previously used restrictions on critical minerals to pressure the Trump administration during the 2025 tariff confrontation, helping establish new limits on how far the economic conflict between the two countries could escalate.
Washington, meanwhile, is reportedly preparing to limit proposed tariffs on Chinese overcapacity at a level Beijing had previously accepted, with an announcement expected before the Trump-Xi summit.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has also signalled a desire to avoid further economic turmoil, saying on Aug 24 that he did not “want to blow up the global financial system” as US long-term borrowing costs reached their highest levels in years.
Chinese state media has seized on those economic pressures, with China Daily arguing that the United States was “trapped in a crisis of its own making” and seeking to “look stronger by threatening a foreign adversary”.
Beijing also faces its own economic constraints. Prolonged conflict and elevated energy prices could weaken global demand, threatening exports that remain critical to China's economic growth.
Diplomacy could provide Xi with another route to influence the conflict without directly aligning himself with either Washington or Tehran. Chinese officials have recently held discussions with leaders from Jordan, Kuwait and other Arab states, while Beijing is due to host a summit with Arab nations later this year.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation meeting in Kyrgyzstan next week could also give Xi an opportunity to engage Iranian representatives.
Ultimately, however, analysts say Beijing is unlikely to make significant concessions before seeing how firmly Washington follows through on its Iran policy.
“Beijing certainly won’t move early,” said Derek Scissors of the American Enterprise Institute.
“The US will have to show commitment to the new policy, which it hasn’t yet – and is something Trump rarely does.” - August 26, 2026
