The US Congress should investigate China’s purchases of Iranian oil in the past five years, a top US advisory panel on China has urged, with Tehran looming as a larger issue in the next Trump presidency.
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In an annual report covering nearly every aspect of the bilateral relationship, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission called on lawmakers to mandate a detailed study within six months to look at how the oil entered China through indirect routes, allowing the country to “insulate itself from sanctions”.
The commission – citing advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran and other sources tracking data on Iranian oil exports – said on Tuesday that China’s imports of Iranian oil rose 9 per cent year on year in 2023.
This meant that China bought nearly 90 per cent of Iran’s crude exports, making Iran the fourth-largest supplier to China last year, just behind Iraq, the report said.
Chinese customs have not reported any crude oil imports from Iran since 2023.
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The US report also said that since late 2019, China’s major state-owned oil companies had reduced their involvement in buying and processing Iranian oil.