China gets a lot of oil from Iran and they get it on the cheap. They do purchase oil from other places like Russia, but they receive almost 20% or more from Iran alone. They were getting about 3-4% from Venezuela for about $20/barrel. Actually the Venezuelan oil was sold to a company owned by a white glove of Xi's sister who was then selling it back to state owned companies at $40 to $60/barrel, pocketing the difference. From what I understand, it amounted to about $400 billion a year. Quite the enterprise for the Xi family. Trump has cut that avenue off. That heavy crude was needed for the Chinese military. Now they are forced to look for heavy crude somewhere else. Ouch. They only had about 90 days of reserve for the military. Not sure what arrangements they are doing now. Trump did offer to sell them Venezuelan oil at market prices.
Not sure what the price is that they are purchasing oil from Iran, but it is heavily discounted. China has been purchasing about 90% or more of Iran's oil due to the sanctions. In addition, that discounted oil was being purchased in RMB thereby bypassing SWIFT. All the discounted oil they buy uses RMB to keep those transactions hidden from the dollar system. Iran was then using those RMB to purchase Chinese weapons and other tech.
All that being said, China has a huge vested interest in maintaining the status quo of the current system with Iran. The loss of discounted Iranian oil puts a huge bite on them economically and they are already struggling with their economy. It's part of the reason they can offer cheap goods - cheaper energy costs to produce those goods. If they have to pay more for oil by purchasing it on the open market it is not in their best interests. Then you have to factor in the trade they are doing with Iran in RMB. Trump knows all this. China is being squeezed by Trump's moves against Maduro and now Iran. Trump and the EU are also targeting the shadow fleet by seizing those tankers and confiscating the oil. So yes, China is helping Iran but not in a visibly open way. China is providing Iran intel - satellite imaging, positioning, etc.. I believe their spy destroyer is still in the Gulf. China is also gathering intel on American operations for their own military while helping Iran.
China gets a lot of oil from Iran and they get it on the cheap. They do purchase oil from other places like Russia, but they receive almost 20% or more from Iran alone. They were getting about 3-4% from Venezuela for about $20/barrel. Actually the Venezuelan oil was sold to a company owned by a white glove of Xi's sister who was then selling it back to state owned companies at $40 to $60/barrel, pocketing the difference. From what I understand, it amounted to about $400 billion a year. Quite the enterprise for the Xi family. Trump has cut that avenue off. That heavy crude was needed for the Chinese military. Now they are forced to look for heavy crude somewhere else. Ouch. They only had about 90 days of reserve for the military. Not sure what arrangements they are doing now. Trump did offer to sell them Venezuelan oil at market prices.
Not sure what the price is that they are purchasing oil from Iran, but it is heavily discounted. China has been purchasing about 90% or more of Iran's oil due to the sanctions. In addition, that discounted oil was being purchased in RMB thereby bypassing SWIFT. All the discounted oil they buy uses RMB to keep those transactions hidden from the dollar system. Iran was then using those RMB to purchase Chinese weapons and other tech.
All that being said, China has a huge vested interest in maintaining the status quo of the current system with Iran. The loss of discounted Iranian oil puts a huge bite on them economically and they are already struggling with their economy. It's part of the reason they can offer cheap goods - cheaper energy costs to produce those goods. If they have to pay more for oil by purchasing it on the open market it is not in their best interests. Then you have to factor in the trade they are doing with Iran in RMB. Trump knows all this. China is being squeezed by Trump's moves against Maduro and now Iran. Trump and the EU are also targeting the shadow fleet by seizing those tankers and confiscating the oil. So yes, China is helping Iran but not in a visibly open way. China is providing Iran intel - satellite imaging, positioning, etc.. I believe their spy destroyer is still in the Gulf. China is also gathering intel on American operations for their own military while helping Iran.