China urges immediate ceasefire after US, Israel strike Iran
By Reuters, March 1, 2026China called for an immediate ceasefire following the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran, as President Xi Jinping’s government weighs its options in the Middle East.
“China is highly concerned about the US and Israel’s military strikes against Iran,” a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement Saturday, February 28, 2026.
“China calls for an immediate cessation of military operations, to avoid further escalation of tensions, to resume dialogue and negotiations, and to safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East.”
The statement came before the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the airstrikes. China has yet to comment directly on his passing.
The US and Israel began striking targets across Iran on Saturday, with President Donald Trump urging Iranians to overthrow the government in a conflict that threatens to spiral across the oil-rich Middle East.
China-Iran trade is heavily tilted in Beijing’s favour. China accounts for about a third of Iranian trade, while the Islamic Republic represents less than 1 per cent of global commerce for the world’s second-biggest economy, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. While Beijing buys some 90 per cent of Iran’s oil exports in defiance of US sanctions, the Middle East nation is ultimately a replaceable energy partner for China.
Even so, about a third of China’s crude supply comes from ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway next to Iran linking the Persian Gulf to the open seas.
After Saturday’s bombing, some oil tankers avoided sailing through the strait, as some shipowners took a cautious approach.
China has strengthened diplomatic and economic ties with Tehran in recent years, although it has no formal alliance with the Islamic Republic. Xi supported Iran’s bid to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization security club in 2023, as well as its ascension to the BRICS bloc — groupings Beijing has bolstered to challenge US power on the world stage.
Although Beijing signed a 25-year strategic cooperation agreement in 2021, which included a reported $400 billion in Chinese investment pledges, implementation of that deal has been weak. China’s economic interests in the wider Gulf region now far outweigh its economic ties to Iran.
Beijing has also been reluctant to provide weapons to Iran over concerns about US sanctions. During the last flare-up of Middle East tensions, China was quick to condemn the attacks and offered a four-point blueprint for the Israel-Iran war, but stopped short of offering material support.
“This practice of openly attacking a sovereign state and pressuring it to overthrow its regime is nothing short of power politics and hegemonism,” China’s official Xinhua News Agency said in a commentary after the latest strikes. “Aggressive and hegemonic behaviour will ultimately backfire.”