The Trump administration said on Friday it had imposed sanctions on an independent "teapot" refinery in China for buying billions of dollars' worth of Iranian oil, as Washington and Tehran head into another round of peace talks over the weekend, Reuters reported.
The Treasury Department targeted Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery, which it said is one of Iran's largest customers of crude oil and petroleum products. The department's Office of Foreign Assets Control said it also imposed sanctions on about 40 shipping companies and vessels that operate as part of Iran's shadow fleet.
China has said it opposes "illegal" unilateral sanctions.
On Friday, its embassy in Washington said normal trade should not be harmed and called on Washington to stop "abusing" sanctions to target Chinese companies.
"We call on the U.S. to stop politicizing trade and sci-tech issues and using them as a weapon and a tool and stop abusing various kinds of sanction to hit Chinese companies," a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said in a statement.
The Trump administration last year imposed sanctions on teapots Hebei Xinhai Chemical Group, Shandong Shouguang Luqing Petrochemical and Shandong Shengxing Chemical.
That created some hurdles for the refiners, including difficulties receiving crude and having to sell refined products under different names. Teapots account for a quarter of Chinese refinery capacity, operate with narrow and sometimes negative margins and have been squeezed recently by tepid domestic demand.
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