Chinese envoy arrives in oil route hub Bandar Abbas as Beijing and Tehran strengthen ties

China’s new envoy to Bandar Abbas in southern Iran has assumed office in the latest sign of strengthened ties between Beijing and Tehran as the two face tensions with the West.

Xu Wei, the newly appointed consul general, landed in Bandar Abbas on Sunday and was greeted by Iranian officials and Chinese diplomats at the airport, the Chinese embassy in Tehran said on Monday.

Xu, who served as counsellor and deputy head of the Chinese embassy in Iran from 2016 to 2017, said he looked forward to “working with all sectors of the consular district to promote friendly exchanges and cooperation between China and the eight southern provinces of Iran … and to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese personnel and institutions”.

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Xu’s arrival came eight months after Beijing announced the opening of a new consulate in Bandar Abbas, the strategically located port on the narrow Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil trade routes.

It is China’s first consulate in Iran and was hailed by Chinese ambassador to Iran Chang Hua as a “fresh landmark moment” in bilateral ties when it officially opened in December.

Bandar Abbas lies on the coast of Hormuz Bay and controls the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman to the east.

Fan Hongda, a professor at the Middle East Studies Institute at Shanghai International Studies University, said a new diplomatic mission in southern Iran would deepen China’s cooperation with Iran, especially in its southern region.

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Fan noted that as the capital city of Hormozgan province, Bandar Abbas is a major trade hub on the Persian Gulf and Oman Sea and is important for the development of southern Iran – a region that is home to some of the country’s biggest seaports, including the islands of Kish and Qeshm as well as Jask and Chabahar on the Gulf of Oman.

“China needs to pay more attention to exchanges with southern Iran. And of course, Chinese diplomatic agencies need to provide timely and effective services for these exchanges,” he said. “Therefore, it is very necessary for China to open the consulate general in Bandar Abbas.”

He added that the new diplomatic mission could also help Beijing understand Iran better.

“The opening of the Chinese consulate in Bandar Abbas will promote a more accurate understanding of Iran by Chinese officials, and of course it will benefit the development of bilateral relations.”

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Facing tensions with the US, China and Iran have forged closer ties in recent years. In 2021, they signed a 25-year agreement for economic, military, energy and security cooperation.

In February, Chinese President Xi Jinping rolled out the red carpet in Beijing for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, and the two strategic partners signed as many as 20 cooperation documents in trade, agriculture, industry, renewable energy and infrastructure. Xi also met Raisi last week in Johannesburg, where both attended the Brics summit and welcomed Iran as a new member of the bloc.

The Chinese navy has regularly joined its Iranian counterpart in military exercises over the past decade. In 2014, Bandar Abbas hosted a Chinese destroyer and frigate during the first joint exercises. Iran, China and Russia in March carried out a joint drill off Chabahar port in southern Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province.

South China Morning Post