BEIJING, CHINA – JULY 15: Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (not seen) hold a meeting on the sidelines of the 2025 meeting of the SCO Council of Foreign Ministers in Beijing, China on July 15, 2025.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia | Anadolu | Getty Images
China hosted Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Wednesday for the first time since the US-Israel war broke out in Tehran, a few days before US President Donald Trump’s visit to Beijing.
Wang Yi, China’s top lawyer, held a meeting with Araghchi on Wednesday morning, according to the state-backed Xinhua News Agency.
Chinese state media announced the visit late Tuesday, citing a foreign ministry statement that noted Beijing had initiated the invitation. But the official statement did not reveal the agenda.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the talks will cover bilateral relations, as well as regional and international issues.
“This meeting is deeply strategic,” said Amir Handjani, a board member at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. “Tehran and Beijing are aligning their interests ahead of Trump’s summit [Chinese President Xi Jinping]and the timing is deliberate.”
That said, China wants stability in the Persian Gulf to protect trade and energy, Handjani said.
He said the Chinese leadership wants tankers to move and trade from the Persian Gulf to Asian markets, he said.
Wang and Araghchi have held at least three phone calls since the Iran war broke out in Feb. 28. Beijing has repeatedly called for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for free passage of commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. At the end of April, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for a “normal approach” to the important waterway.
Before the war, about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas went through this crisis. But commercial traffic has dropped significantly in recent weeks.
China, the world’s largest buyer of oil and gas in the Gulf, absorbed the shock of Hormuz, although domestic stocks and a diversified energy mix provided some reassurance.
In preparation for Trump’s highly anticipated May 14-15 visit to China, US presidential advisers have urged Beijing to pressure Iran to restore commercial shipping.
The director of a pro-Beijing think tank previously told CNBC that China lacks both the power and the inclination to pressure both sides of the talks, despite calling for a temporary freeze last month.
For Tehran, China’s visit is a way to show the US that it is “not isolated and has friends and options,” said Danny Russell, a distinguished fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, as Iran’s leadership seeks to strengthen its negotiating position with Washington and prevent renewed American aggression.
Tehran is expected to seek assurances from Beijing about oil flows, financial channels, and legal support against renewed US military action, Russell said.
Again, he expects Beijing to push Iran to stop threatening the Gulf’s infrastructure and commercial shipping and move on to reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
For Xi, the visit could provide an opportunity to position Beijing as a credible power ahead of Trump’s visit, while reducing China’s risk, Russell said.
The visit also comes as the two sides have been exchanging views ahead of the summit. In an unprecedented act of defiance, China rolled back Washington’s sanctions on Chinese refiners buying Iranian crude, used a “preventive rule” for the first time, and ordered companies not to comply with US sanctions.
The countermeasures, at the highest level, “will put American companies in a position to choose between complying with US or Chinese regulatory laws,” said Han Shen Lin, China managing director of The Asia Group.
Trump’s upcoming summit in Beijing – delayed for more than a month because of the Iran war – could present a key opportunity for the US president to defuse tensions and secure a commitment from China to buy US farm produce, industrial goods and energy before the November midterm elections.
Conflict over Iran risks derailing that plan, analysts warn.
“Even if Trump believes that the Chinese are providing diplomatic support while keeping Iran economically stable, he’s in trouble,” Russell said. “You need Beijing to contain Tehran, not empower it.”
