This Sprawling Chinese Refinery Is Bankrolling Tehran

To the outside world, Hengli—which in Chinese means “eternal strength”—may not ring a bell. But inside China, it has become an industrial juggernaut. With operations spanning petrochemicals, textiles and shipbuilding, it employs more than 300,000 people and records revenue north of $100 billion a year—more than Tesla or Boeing—according to the company’s website.

It has also become a major importer of illicit Iranian crude, according to industry analysts, shipping brokers and the U.S. Treasury, which sanctioned the company’s refinery business earlier this year, saying it bought billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petroleum. Hengli’s other businesses weren’t sanctioned. 

U.S. officials say Hengli is one of the biggest players in a vast ecosystem of “teapot” refineries in China that for years have been buying sanctioned oil.