China will not comply with U.S. sanctions against five firms targeted for purchasing Iranian oil, Beijing’s Commerce Ministry said on on May 2.
China is a key customer for Iranian oil, mainly through independent “teapot” refineries that rely on discounted crude from the Islamic republic.
The U.S., seeking to choke off revenue to Tehran, has ramped up sanctions on such refineries.
The Commerce Ministry’s injunction, relating to sanctions announced separately since last year, states that the U.S. measures “shall not be recognised, implemented, or complied with.”
The sanctions “improperly prohibit or restrict Chinese enterprises from conducting normal economic, trade and related activities with third countries... and violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations,” the ministry said in a statement.
The injunction applies to three companies in Shandong province — Shandong Jincheng Petrochemical Group, Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical and Shandong Shengxing Chemical — and two others based elsewhere in China, Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery and Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group.
Washington imposed on May 1 sanctions on yet another Chinese firm which it said had imported “tens of millions of barrels” of Iranian crude oil, generating billions of dollars in revenue for Tehran.
The firm, Qingdao Haiye Oil Terminal Co., Ltd., was not mentioned in the Commerce Ministry’s injunction.
U.S. President Donald Trump is due to visit China for talks with leader Xi Jinping later this month.
