China warns of retaliation against Washington’s Iran sanctions

Beijing has warned the US that it will retaliate if Chinese companies are included in any significant expansion of the Trump administration’s new secondary sanctions relating to Iran, reports the Financial Times.

The measures unveiled by US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent targeted companies based in Hong Kong and mainland China but stopped short of listing large Chinese financial institutions. 

Any serious increase in US sanctions on China, which buys 90% of Iran’s oil, would risk exploding the relationship only a month before presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet in Washington.