Early this week, in a little-noticed development in the Iran war, the first confirmed Chinese-owned container ship skirted Iranian-laid naval mines and sailed out of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Newvoyager, a medium-sized cargo ship, slipped down a narrow channel past the red sands of Larak Island soon after sunrise on Sunday. It emerged safely hours later in the Arabian Sea, broadcasting the message “ALL CREW CHINA,” according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, a U.K. ship tracking and maritime data firm. A Chinese company paid Iranian authorities for the vessel’s safe passage, it said.
Like the slow but steady ship, China is prioritizing its longstanding economic interests in Iran, while adopting a deliberately neutral stance on the conflict itself.
Why We Wrote This
China has long been an economic lifeline for Iran. But Beijing’s muted response to the war reveals a degree of disillusionment with its Middle East partner – highlighting China’s pragmatic, self-interested approach to foreign relations.
Indeed, Beijing’s hands-off posture illustrates its pragmatic, flexible approach to foreign policy, designed to diversify its partnerships and maximize its opportunities globally, while avoiding binding commitments.
Even as China and Iran have deepened economic, security, and technological cooperation, including through a 25-year strategic partnership agreement signed in 2021, Beijing has avoided formal defense commitments to Iran. Its muted response to the war shows the limits of the relationship, which, together with Russia and North Korea, is described by experts in Washington as an authoritarian, anti-Western “axis of upheaval.”
“China will continue to maintain an objective and impartial stance,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, in a phone call on Tuesday.
Iran’s lifeline
In the Middle East, Beijing’s goal with this neutrality is to preserve its strong commercial relationships with Arab countries – including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates – while also leveraging its influence as Iran’s top trading partner to help safeguard its access to crude oil. This approach is expected to continue, regardless of who runs the government in Tehran, experts say.
“China is deeply concerned about the continued escalation and spillovers, which have dealt a blow to regional and international peace and stability,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told a press conference on Tuesday. “We call on relevant parties to end hostilities immediately.”
Beijing has voiced its displeasure with Iran’s attacks on Gulf countries, and has generally grown disappointed with Iran as a regional power. “China has been disillusioned about Iran – both Iran’s capability as well as Iran’s strategic resolve,” says Yun Sun, senior fellow and director of the China Program at the Stimson Center in Washington. “China is not going to come to their rescue.”
China has long served as a lifeline for Iran, helping Tehran evade U.S. sanctions by importing about 90% of Iranian oil exports. This made up about 13% of China’s total crude oil imports at the end of 2025.
This week’s Chinese ship transit allowed Iranian officials to claim they’ve at least partially opened the strait – one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints, which before the war channeled about 20 million barrels of crude oil a day, or 20% of global oil consumption.
“The Strait of Hormuz is open to everyone, and ships can pass through safely. But countries currently at war are not under consideration,” Mr. Araghchi told Mr. Wang in their Tuesday call, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement.
Restraint amid turmoil
For its part, Beijing is also seizing upon the Iran war to advance its narrative that China is the more stable, peaceful, and responsible world power – in contrast to the United States.
“The U.S. does not provide security to the Middle East anymore,” but instead has inflicted “huge disruption,” said Henry Huiyao Wang, founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing think tank, in a televised interview with CNBC.
“China’s influence and impact is growing daily given this war, [while] the image of the U.S. has been really damaged,” he said.
Indeed, China can reap benefits simply by showing restraint and calm amid the turmoil, argues Zhou Bo, a researcher at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
“Reportedly, dozens of ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz have updated their destination signals to indicate they are registered in China or have ties to China,” wrote the retired senior army colonel in Guancha.cn, a Chinese news and commentary website. “This is an unintentional advertisement for Beijing: security is linked to China, and chaos is linked to the United States.”
