Beijing orders firms to ignore US sanctions on Chinese refiners

China has, for the first time, invoked a law targeting companies that comply with foreign sanctions it does not recognise, marking an escalation in its response to US measures aimed at curbing purchases of Iranian crude.

According to an order issued on Saturday, May 2, by the Ministry of Commerce of China and cited by Iran International companies were instructed not to comply with US sanctions imposed on five refiners, including Hengli Petrochemical. The directive cited Chinese legislation that enables retaliation against entities enforcing what Beijing considers unlawful external restrictions.

Independent refiners in China are widely regarded as the primary buyers of Iran’s oil exports, placing them at the centre of the dispute.

The move comes less than two weeks before Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing, highlighting China’s readiness to deploy economic countermeasures despite an existing trade truce with the United States.

Washington has previously blacklisted a number of Chinese companies accused of trading Iranian and Russian oil, a policy that has drawn repeated criticism from Beijing.

By Tamilla Hasanova