Economy

Chinese companies told to take care dealing with Iran

(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-06 09:54

BEIJING - As Iranian Oil Minister arrived in Beijing on Thursday to strengthen cooperation in the energy sector, Beijing-based experts told Chinese companies to be aware of the complicated situation when doing business in Iran.

Iran's Oil Minister Massoud Mir-Kazemi arrived in Beijing early on Thursday, said an official of Iran's embassy in Beijing. And the minister was accompanied by the head of the National Iranian Oil Company, according to the oil ministry's website

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Mir-Kazemi will meet officials from Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Zhenrong is one of the few Chinese firms doing business with Iran.

Yin Gang, a senior Middle East expert at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the minister's visit is mainly aimed at attracting more Chinese investment in Iran's refinery industry.

Deputy Oil Minister of Iran Hossein Noqrehkar Shirazi said last week in Teheran that Iran's oil exports to China fell by more than 30 percent on yearly basis to 9 million tons in the first six months of this year.

Yin said the decreased oil import from Iran is basically due to shrinking oil output in Iran and changes in the international oil market.

"It doesn't indicate any substantial changes in China's oil importing strategy," Yin said.

"China needs to be prudent on the issue. Though the UN resolution does not prohibit such investment, it has been banned by the United States and the European Union," he said.

And for Iran, "it seems that the need for China's support in that regard is urgent," he said.

However, Yu Guoqing, Yin's colleague, said Beijing might have put the thorny Iran nuclear issue into consideration when it comes to oil imports from Teheran.

"And Beijing has always tried to diversify its oil sources," Yu said.

China was pressed by the US on Monday to keep pace with the Western countries' tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. A US arm control official suggested that China was "backfilling" and "taking advantage of the responsible restraint of other countries."

Chinese Foreign Minister spokeswoman Jiang Yu dismissed the remarks on Wednesday and said "as the permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has always observed the council's resolutions."

China signed the fourth round of UN Security Council sanctions against Iran on June 9, but expressed its opposition against subsequent unilateral restrictions from the US and EU.

China maintains that dialogue and negotiations are the best way to solve the Iran nuclear issue