Beijing after ties with Tehran regardless of rules by a third country

A senior Chinese official said Saturday that his country will enhance economic relations with Iran without considering internal laws of third countries.

News ID: 71700

Date: 11 August 2018 - 13:18

Beijing (Defapress)-China works with Iran, like it did in the past, in the economic and trade fields, Gao Feng, spokesman for China's Ministry of Commerce, told .

As Feng said, the US May 8 exit from the landmark Iran Deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), would not affect Beijing-Tehran economic relations.

Talking of the Washington decision to withdraw from the international agreement, Feng said China is against 'unilateralism' policy taken by the US or any other country.

He added that Beijing will give no significance to the US withdrawal from the JCPOA or to its unilateral sanctions against Iran.

According to reports, after Washington's May decision to pull out of the landmark nuclear deal, the US gave 90 to 180 wind-down period to other countries before it starts re-imposing sanctions on Tehran on November 4.

However, Feng said that Beijing, as the biggest buyer of Iran's oil, would keep its long-lasting economic ties with Tehran in the future.

Development of Beijing-Tehran economic cooperation is not in contradiction to any international laws, Feng stressed.

China would not accompany a country which puts pressure on others based on its internal laws to impose unilateral sanctions on a particular nation, Feng said adding such pressure moves are against China's economic reform policy.

Touching upon Beijing-Tehran cooperation, the official said the volume of trade exchange between the two countries was 17 billion dollars in the first half of 2018 showing a 10.1-percent increase compared to the same period in the preceding year.

He went on to say that China imported about 630,000 barrels of Iran's oil per day in 2017, and almost the same figure is reported for the first five months of 2018.

The growing volume of exchange between China and Iran is indicative of a growth in their economic cooperation which has been preserved during the past decade, the Chinese official said.
Also on Friday, Foreign Ministry of China said in a statement that trade relations between Beijing and Tehran will not damage interests of any other country, and China opposes the US unilateral walk-away from the Iran Deal.

message end/