Alwaght | News & Analysis Website

Editor's Choice

News

Most Viewed

Day Week Month

In Focus

Ansarullah

Ansarullah

A Zaidi Shiite movement operating in Yemen. It seeks to establish a democratic government in Yemen.
Shiite

Shiite

represents the second largest denomination of Islam. Shiites believe Ali (peace be upon him) to be prophet"s successor in the Caliphate.
Resistance

Resistance

Axis of Resistances refers to countries and movements with common political goal, i.e., resisting against Zionist regime, America and other western powers. Iran, Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Hamas in Palestine are considered as the Axis of Resistance.
Persian Gulf Cooperation Council

Persian Gulf Cooperation Council

A regional political u n i o n consisting of Arab states of the Persian Gulf, except for Iraq.
Taliban

Taliban

Taliban is a Sunni fundamentalist movement in Afghanistan. It was founded by Mohammed Omar in 1994.
  Wahhabism & Extremism

Wahhabism & Extremism

Wahhabism is an extremist pseudo-Sunni movement, which labels non-Wahhabi Muslims as apostates thus paving the way for their bloodshed.
Kurds

Kurds

Kurds are an ethnic group in the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region, which spans adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. They are an Iranian people and speak the Kurdish languages, which form a subgroup of the Northwestern Iranian branch of Iranian languages.
NATO

NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949.
Islamic Awakening

Islamic Awakening

Refers to a revival of the Islam throughout the world, that began in 1979 by Iranian Revolution that established an Islamic republic.
Al-Qaeda

Al-Qaeda

A militant Sunni organization founded by Osama bin Laden at some point between 1988 and 1989
New node

New node

Map of  Latest Battlefield Developments in Syria and Iraq on
alwaght.net
Analysis

Tehran-Beijing Rail Connection: How’s Iran Become China’s Big Partner?

Tuesday 22 July 2025
Tehran-Beijing Rail Connection: How’s Iran Become China’s Big Partner?

Related Content

Iran Commends China for Denouncing Israeli and US Military Actions

China-Iran Diplomatic Talks Held in Beijing

Iran-China-Russia: The Emerging Pole of Naval Power

Alwaght- China and Iran as two economic and political partners have recently agreed to expand their rail relations, too. On Friday and during the meeting of Iran’s railways company head with his Chinese counterpart, the two agreed on increasing the number of freight trains between the two countries. Expansion of Beijing-Tehran ties at the height of the Western pressures reflects the firm relations between the two countries that have helped them weather the strictest sanctions.

The reason behind support for Iran in Chinese foreign policy

A reference to the reports and analyses of the Chinese political observers can help us get a broader picture of why China supports Iran amid the heaviest Western sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran. Chinese sources suggest that their government has three fundamental national goals to pursue: To promote Chinese-style modernization, to achieve national reunification (with regard to Taiwan), and to contribute to global peace and development.”

Still, among these three goals, the goal of high priority is modernization and economic development.

The preface of Chinese constitution says “the fundamental task of the nation in the coming years is to focus its efforts on socialist modernization.” This emphasis on modernization, which generally means economic development, requires that the Chinese government prioritize economic goals over other goals, and given the importance of the economy in China’s foreign policy, Beijing is making extensive efforts to maintain its economic partners, including Iran. China’s economic relations in the international system show that Beijing is seeking to capture the consumer goods market of Western industrialized countries, to import goods to neighboring countries, and to maintain its position in West Asia as the world’s top energy consumer. Undoubtedly, Iranian oil is one of the attractions that China cannot ignore even despite anti-Iranian sanctions. In fact, China believes that it must achieve a kind of comprehensive balance in its foreign policy, because pursuing economic development is not possible without comprehensive and balanced relations with all parties. Meanwhile, despite its relationship with the US, China cannot create challenges in its relations with Iran, and therefore Beijing has always tried to maintain the ability to purchase its oil from Iran at the height of sanctions.

The role of economy in Beijing-Tehran bonds

Committing to its comprehensive diplomacy, China in recent years has fast boosted its relations with Iran. In 2006, China became the top economic partner of Iran, unseating Japan. The Asian heavyweight has actively invested in the Iranian market. China is just unlike Japan which in 2006 cut its investment stake at Iran’s Azadegan oilfield under the US pressure.

Rapid economic development has led to a significant increase in energy demand in China, and Iran, with its rich oil and natural gas reserves, has become a key energy supplier to China. While Japan, Europe and East Asian countries have been withdrawing from Iran in recent years due to tightened sanctions, China has been moving closer to Tehran with its comprehensive foreign policy to fill this gap and meet its energy needs. Studies also show that Iran’s record-breaking oil exports to China, reaching nearly1.5 million barrels per day, will make Iran China’s largest seaborne oil supplier in 2024. In 2024, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iraq were the second to fourth largest oil suppliers to China. Interestingly, in 2023, Iran was China’s third largest oil supplier after Saudi Arabia and Russia.

China committed to $400 billion in foreign direct investment in Iran over 25 years in exchange for buying Iranian oil, and since then, China’s oil imports from Iran have steadily increased. The deal reportedly also included security cooperation commitments. Months later, the Chinese-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) confirmed Iran as a member state. US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant confirmed in March that China was now the largest importer of Iranian oil and that it had provided Tehran with an “economic lifeline” as Tehran faced US sanctions. More than 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports in 2024 and 2025 were destined for China. In May 2025, Washington sanctioned several Chinese “teapot refineries” that the Treasury Department said were buying and refining hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian crude.

For Iran, on the other side, China is a key partner. Iran has imported from China an array of Chinese goods including material and facilities for peaceful nuclear energy, electric equipment and home appliances, fuel, and cars, with the US sanctions failing to curb their business ties. The reality is that China and Iran have a long history of trade ties thanks to the ancient Silk Road and due to these close ties, Beijing insists on peacefully settling Iran nuclear program.

Three common security chapters in China-Iran relations

In addition to trade, Chinese-Iranian relations have been highly distinguished in three issues:

Chinese support to Iran ballistic missile program

China recognized the Islamic Republic of Iran shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution and provided Iran with missiles and weapons in the 1980s during U.S. sanctions. At least one of the missile systems Iranian forces used to target US forces in Iraq in 2020 included technology from this long-standing partnership with China. The US Treasury Department also last year sanctioned entities in China involved in the supply of ballistic missile fuel precursors and drone components. The sanctions showed that China was supporting Iran in developing missile technology.

Regular maritime partnership with Iran

In 2016, President Xi Jinping of China made an official visit to Iran, signing agreements that paved the diplomatic way for upgrading bilateral relations by 2021. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in 2019 invited Iranian defense minister for discussions on bolstering defense ties and naval facilities. China, Iran, and Russia have held joint naval exercises, dubbed Naval Security Belt, in 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024, and March 2025.

Chinese support to Yemen as Iran’s ally

In April, the Wall Street Journal reported that Chinese satellite service provider Chang Guang Satellite Technology supplies data to Yemeni forces targeting the US interests in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Washington had made this claim years ago and for the West, Chinese support to Sana’a-based government led by Ansarullah Movement is not a secret. In other words, Yemen has become a common chapter of the foreign policy of Iran and China.

 

Tags :

China Iran Partnership West Sanctions Economy Security Yemen Defense

Comments
Name :
Email :
* Text :
Send

Gallery

Photo

Film

Commemorating the 36th anniversary of the passing of Imam Khomeini (RA), the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Commemorating the 36th anniversary of the passing of Imam Khomeini (RA), the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran.