⚡️🇨🇳🇺🇸🇮🇷 FT: China warned that it will take "all necessary measures" to defend its interests if Washington expands secondary sanctions on Iran to include Chinese companies.

The secondary sanctions targeted firms in Hong Kong and mainland China but stopped short of listing major Chinese financial institutions, a step that would destabilize US-China relations a month before US President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet in Washington.

China buys roughly 90% of Iran's oil exports through independent "teapot" refiners that Beijing has continued to shield from US sanctions imposed earlier this year. Analysts note Beijing privately wants the US-Iran conflict resolved given the strain that Strait of Hormuz disruptions place on the broader global economy, including China's own oil imports from Saudi Arabia and Iraq.