Sanctions against Iran drive up China trade tenfold in decade

Sanctions against Iran have created more opportunities for trade with China, which totalled US$29.3 billion last year.

'China's economic ties with Iran have to some extent been made easier by Western divestment,' said An Baojun , a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Co-operation, which is under the Ministry of Commerce. An spent several years in Iran studying Middle Eastern issues.

The volume of bilateral trade has increased more than tenfold over the past decade, from US$2.5 billion in 2000 to US$29.3 billion last year, according to China Customs trade figures collected by the Global Trade Atlas, a Geneva-based company that provides trade data to the private sector, the UN and the World Bank.

'As some countries retreat from the Iranian market,' An said, 'it actually creates more opportunities for some Chinese companies.'

In 2008, Iran's Pars Oil and Gas Company reached a deal with China National Offshore Oil Corp to exploit the North Pars gas field. The pact was signed after oil giant Royal Dutch Shell and Spanish oil company Respol withdrew from Iran; French energy firm Total had also announced plans to abandon its investment in a gas project in Iran.

More recently, Japan's unilateral sanctions, passed in September, froze the assets of individuals and entities linked to Iran's nuclear programme, banned the provision of insurance or reinsurance services, barred Japanese financial institutions from buying bonds issued by Iran's central bank, and banned financial activity with 15 designated Iranian banks that could contribute to nuclear activities.