How China is gaining from Iran war by showing it is different from US

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As Chinese President Xi Jinping called for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz this week, the pragmatic approach Beijing has taken to the US-Israel war on Iran was on full display.

Speaking to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) on the phone on Monday, Xi reiterated China’s support for “all efforts conducive to restoring peace and stands for resolving disputes through political and diplomatic means”.

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“The Strait of Hormuz should maintain normal passage, as this serves the common interests of regional countries and the international community,” Xi said, according to a Chinese readout of the call.

The readout did not specifically mention any of the key players in the war, although the United States and Iran have, between them, brought the strategic waterway to a standstill for the past seven weeks. Iran moved to close the strait to most marine traffic following the launch of the war on February 28, while the US launched a blockade of all Iranian ports on April 13.

Xi’s measured statements stood in sharp contrast to those of US President Donald Trump, who took to social media the same day to declare, “I’m winning a War, BY A LOT, things are going very well”, and that the naval blockade would continue until Washington reached a “DEAL” with Tehran.

It was also indicative, say analysts, of how China has used the US-Israel war on Iran to present itself as the more responsible of the world’s two superpowers, and one that often prefers to stay in the background rather than out front and centre.

“China is gaining not by doing any dramatic moves but waiting and seeing and using opportunities as they come to position, and letting the Americans deal with the mess,” said Gedaliah Afterman, head of the Asia-Israel policy programme at the Abba Eban Institute for Diplomacy and Foreign Relations.

Beijing has been able to position itself as a voice of reason thanks to its longstanding policy of “noninterference” in other countries’ internal affairs and its working relationship with all players in the war on Iran.

China is Iran’s largest trade partner and buys up to 90 percent of its oil, according to the US-China Economic and Security Commission, and in 2021 signed a 25-year “comprehensive strategic partnership agreement” with Tehran.

At the same time, Beijing has spent the past decade cultivating closer ties with Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, and remains a top trade partner of both the US and Israel.

“China keeps good relations with the US, Israel, Iran and the Gulf Arab states. All those countries are our friends, even if they are enemies,” said Ma Xiaolin, dean of the Mediterranean Rim Institute at Zhejiang International Studies University.

China's President Xi Jinping shakes hands with Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in Beijing, China, April 14, 2026. cnsphoto via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA

Its commitment to nonintervention was likely a key reason why earlier this month it vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for members to “coordinate efforts, defensive in nature” to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, according to Afterman. China has vetoed similar efforts to intervene in recent conflicts like Syria and Myanmar.

Unlike the US strategic focus on the Middle East, including through regime change efforts, Beijing’s top priorities in the region remain economic, said Chang Ching, senior research fellow at the Society for Strategic Studies in Taipei. Peace is good for business, while war is not, he said.

“They expect peace and stability. They are not really concerned with who wins the conflict. Their wish is to try to restore the peaceful environment in the Middle East, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.

Feng Chucheng, founding partner of the Beijing-based Hutong Research, said a further escalation in the war “would threaten China’s economic and energy security to a degree that could force direct involvement, given that more than 40 percent of its crude oil imports originate from the Middle East”.

“From Beijing’s perspective, such entanglement would risk derailing its effort to maintain a delicate balance between Iran and the Gulf states,” he said in a research note to clients this month.

Meanwhile, Beijing has tried to leverage its position as a “friend to all” to help coordinate a peaceful resolution to the war.

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi made 26 phone calls between February 28 and the lead-up to the Iran-US ceasefire on April 8, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while Zhai Jun, its special envoy to the Middle East, held nearly two dozen meetings with key actors.

President Xi also took part in a meeting last week with Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, before his phone call with Saudi Crown Prince MBS.

Despite its flurry of diplomatic activity, Beijing has curiously tried to downplay its role in helping to broker a two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran reached earlier this month, compared with its role in the 2023 normalisation of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The reason, say observers, is that China wants to avoid becoming embroiled in a complex peace deal.

“They’re trying to be a peacemaker without underwriting the peace process,” said Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. “The bottom line is the Middle East is far from a core interest of China, so it has limited political capital to spend.”

Even so, its efforts will not go unnoticed, said Ma from Zhejiang International Studies University. “I think the world knows who provides stability, who provides security and who dismantled the international law and governance system,” he told Al Jazeera.

Western media reports have suggested that China may be trying to tip the scales behind the scenes. Earlier this month, CNN reported that China was preparing to deliver a shipment of Man-Portable Air-Defense Systems (MANPADS) to Iran, citing Western intelligence officials.

The CNN report was followed by a second investigation from the Financial Times this month that found Iran acquired a Chinese spy satellite in 2024 and has used it to target US military bases across the Middle East.

Jodie Wen, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, told Al Jazeera she did not think Beijing would be so “careless” before a planned meeting between Xi and Trump in May.

“For the Chinese government, the China-Iran relationship is important and so is the China-US relationship,” Wen told Al Jazeera.

Xi is hoping to discuss a trade deal and US tariffs with Trump, who has separately threatened to slap 50 percent tariffs on countries that supply Iran with arms. Beijing is also gearing up for the second China-Arab Summit, as it moves to finalise a free-trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

China will be weighing all these factors as it considers its next move in the Iran war, said Afterman, as well as the war’s eventual aftermath.

“China is walking a tightrope when it comes to balancing its relationships,” he said. “It’s thinking about the day after the war … reconstruction efforts, renewed economic activities, renewed investment. China wants to be in a very good position on both sides of the Gulf.”