Far more so than with Latin America, China has historical ties to the Middle East dating back to the Silk Road trading route and beyond. Over the past two decades China has been working hard to reestablish its historical presence in the region, and for good reason: The Middle East is critical for China’s energy security. In fact, its entrance into Africa, which Bailey discussed on Tuesday, was driven by a desire to decrease its dependence on Middle Eastern oil.
More so than in other regions, China must compete with already well entrenched oil relationships in the Middle East. Consequently, it has not been able to purchase stakes in oil fields to the same extent it has elsewhere. One way in which Beijing has tried to overcome the established interests in the region in recent decades is by courting the countries the West has shunned, most notably Iran. Chinese companies have replaced the Western and Asian companies that have by and large left Tehran to comply with sanctions (though in the past year its position on sanctions compliance has laudably changed). As a result, Iranian-Chinese trade spiked from 4 billion dollars in 2003, to over 20 billion dollars in 2009. That same year, Iran constituted 11 percent of China’s total oil imports, making it Beijing’s third largest supplier.
