According to China’s Customs Office, transactions between the two countries showed a less-than-one-percent drop compared to the corresponding figure of 2020, when the figure crossed the 14.9-billion-dollar mark, reported ifpnews.com.
China’s imports from Iran grew more than 1% in 2021, year-on-year, reaching $6.5 billion.
China imported over $6.4 billion worth of goods from Iran in 2020.
Nevertheless, China’s exports to Iran saw a nearly 2% decline from January to December 2021, hitting $8.3 billion.
In December 2021, Beijing ramped up its purchase of Iranian crude oil after independent refiners were granted additional import quotas for that year.
Iran’s oil exports take place while the United States has maintained a harsh regime of sanctions since May 2018 against countries and entities who engage in petroleum trade with Iran. Washington said back then the sanctions were “intended to bring Iran’s oil exports to zero.”
The restrictive measure was meant to force Iran to abandon its legitimate nuclear and defense activities and came after the former US administration pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal.
In January, Iran and China announced plans for cooperation in areas such as energy and infrastructure as they officially launched a 25-year comprehensive strategic partnership agreement.
The landmark deal, which was finalized in March 2021, is meant to strengthen long-standing economic and political alliance between Iran and China and is viewed as a milestone in their bilateral relations.
