Bloomberg: Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said sanctions and pressure will not help resolve Iran. China buys more than 90% of Iran’s oil exports. UAE cut ties this week.
China said President Donald Trump’s threat to launch “economic warfare” on Iran and its trading partners would not work. That is Bloomberg, 20 August. This is Beijing’s first pushback on the D-Day post.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian, at a regular briefing in Beijing on Thursday: “Sanctions and pressure will not help resolve the issue.” And: “China calls on relevant parties to take responsible measures and seek to solve the issue through diplomatic and political means.”
Lin was responding to Trump’s social-media post outlining plans to isolate Iran and its trading partners. Bloomberg says the US leader did not name other nations, but China, which buys more than 90% of Iran’s oil exports, is thought to be among them.
China was Iran’s second-largest trading partner in 2025, behind the United Arab Emirates. The UAE this week cut all economic ties with Tehran after accusing it of firing ballistic missiles at UAE territory, Bloomberg writes.
China does not recognize unilateral sanctions, the same piece says, but its state-owned entities generally stay away from blacklisted oil, and its biggest state banks have a history of complying with US sanctions to keep dollar-clearing access. Trump’s threats, it adds, risk further straining ties ahead of his planned meeting with Xi Jinping next month.
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