Majid Reza Hariri, who chairs the Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce, said on Saturday that up to 50% of Iran’s non-oil trade is with China, including 29% of the country’s exports and 25% of its imports, in addition to similar volumes that are processed via third countries like the United Arab Emirates.
Hariri said that China buys more than 92% of Iran’s oil exports without elaborating on details.
“Summing up the figures, around $65-70 billion worth of (Iran’s) oil and non-oil trade is with China,” he was quoted as saying by the ISNA news agency.
The businessman made the remarks a day before Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian’s planned visit to China, where he is to attend a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
Reports in the Iranian media in recent days suggested Pezeshkian will oversee the signing of several key economic and energy cooperation agreements with China during his four-day visit to the East Asian country.
ISNA said in a separate report on Saturday that China had relied on Iran for 13.6% of its total oil imports in the first half of 2025, saying the country had imported an average of 1.38 million barrels per day of oil from Iran over the period.
Privately-owned refiners receive the bulk of Iranian oil shipments arriving in China as they enjoy discounts of up to 8% per barrel offered by Iran to circumvent US sanctions imposed on the country.
