This Sprawling Chinese Refinery Is Bankrolling Tehran
Hengli is accused by the U.S. of being a major importer of illicit Iranian crude; the Chinese petrochemical company denies trading with Iran
By Patricia Kowsmann, Rebecca Feng,. Anika Arora Seth, Costas Paris
Chinese leader Xi Jinping last year summoned dozens of leaders from the nation’s top private companies to a rare meeting, calling on them to help China navigate economic difficulties. Sitting with luminaries such as Alibaba’s Jack Ma and DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, according to state media, was a 55-year-old man named Chen Jianhua, founder of a company called Hengli Group.
The U.S. Treasury sanctioned the refinery business of Chinese petrochemical company Hengli Group for allegedly buying Iranian petroleum.
Hengli has said it complies with relevant regulations in the regions where it operates, has never engaged in any trade with Iran and that its suppliers have provided similar assurances.
China’s Commerce Ministry told companies not to comply with the U.S. blacklisting of several Chinese refineries, including Hengli.
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.
China’s purchases of Iranian oil—mainly thanks to teapots—topped more than $30 billion last year, soaking up nearly all the country’s exported petroleum and bankrolling Iran’s theocratic regime, according to a March report by the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.