27-07-08 On 21 July, the attachments of the contract between Iran's Pars Oil and Gas Company and China's CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corp.) to exploit the North Pars gas field were finalized, Pars Oil and Gas Company's managing director said.
"Along with our negotiations with SINOC Group, we are also negotiating with some other domestic and foreign groups about the North Pars gas field project," Ali Vakili explained.

Iranian and Chinese companies hope to start to sell the gas from the North Pars gas field in Asian and European markets soon. Actually, China's rapid economic growth is proceeding in tandem with its growing energy needs, which are placing enormous pressure on world energy prices and fuelling a fierce global competition for energy resources.
China imports half of its oil from the Middle East and is interested in promoting political stability in the region. Beijing rejects Washington's policies that exacerbate insecurity.

At the end of 2004, China became Iran's top oil exportmarket. Iran exports about 300,000 barrels of oil to China, which makes it Beijing's third-largest oil supplier, behind only Angola and Saudi Arabia.
China's oil giant Sinopec Group has signed a big gas deal worth $ 100 bn with Iran. Known as the "deal of the century" by energy experts, Sinopec is going to buy 250 mm tons of natural gas in 30 years from Iran, and will help Iran to develop its giant Yadavaran oilfield in exchange for Tehran's commitment of exporting 150,000 oil barrels per day to China for 25 years at market prices.

China's economic initiatives in Iran go far beyond the energy field and include a wide spectrum of areas, ranging from infrastructure construction to trade and tourism. Beijing is helping Tehran to build dams, shipyards and many other projects. More than 100 Chinese state companies are operating in Iran to develop ports and airports in the major Iranian cities, mine-development projects and oil and gas infrastructures.
Moreover, Beijing wants to increase the presence of its companies in the Iranian market, which may be a good outlet for Chinese products. Trade between the two nations is expected to hit a new record of $ 11 bn in 2008, compared with $ 9.5 bn in 2007.

Moreover, Beijing wants to reinforce its relationship with Tehran in order to deepen its presence in Central Asia with the goal of reaching the important energy resources of the Caspian Sea region. This would help China lessen its dependence on maritime oil imports from the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, thus better securing an uninterrupted flow of oil.
Therefore, Chinese and other Asian companies are increasing their investment in Iran, a country that is a natural bridge between the Middle East and Central and South Asia. As some European countries have decreased their economic trade with Tehran in response to US pressure, China and other Asian countries have stepped in to fill the void. China has already overtaken Germany as Iran's second largest trading partner (the first being the UAE).

As theAmerican journalist, Warren Strobel, wrote for McClatchy, "When Western companies and banks move out of Iran, Chinese or other Asian firms simply move in and take the business."
Strobel believes sanctions against Iran have produced a self-defeating outcome for Western countries that will have negative far-reaching political and economic consequences for them.

China and other Asian nations have long taken measures to counter US hegemonic controls. A major tool is the Asian Energy Security Grid. This is being pursued by China and Russia as an alternative to US-led Western control of the world's energy resources.
Iran is an integral partner to the group, where Russia and China cooperate to counter US threats to their sovereignty. Iran has also joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as an observer. This organization is largely a Sino-Russian tool seeking contain the US presence in Central Asia. Moreover, China, Iran and Russia maintain identical foreign policy positions regarding Taiwan andChechnya. Moscow and Tehran support Beijing's one-China policy.

The recent promulgation by the Chinese Assembly of an anti-secession law, aimed at making China's rejection of Taiwan's independence explicit, was heartily praised in both Moscow and Tehran. China knows that Iran is emerging as a new regional power and is playing a leading role in the Middle East's diplomatic balance.
Tehran's capabilities in influencing the regional dynamics are much stronger than before. Iran has played a key role in stabilizing Iraq and Lebanon.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was invited to the last summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) held in Doha. The GCC, a key instrument of US regional strategy for three decades, had never before invited Iran to its meetings.
Furthermore, in a period in which energy markets highlight the increasing dependence of industrial powers on oil prices, Iran has an important instrument of geopolitical pressure thanks to its status as a major oil producer and its controlof the Strait of Hormuz.

China supports Iran's right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and has called on all negotiating sides to show flexibility in order to reach a deal. Like Russia, the Chinese oppose any move that would lead to an escalation in tensions and have pointed out that sanctions will not help reach an agreement.
"We believe that sanctions, especially unilateral sanctions, are of no help," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao has said.

With a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, China holds the power to pass or veto possible new sanctions on Iran. Some Chinese companies have been sanctioned by the US for selling Iran dual-use chemicals that can have military use. Meanwhile, the US continues to export military systems worth billions of dollars to Israel and is currently the main exporter of weapons to the Middle East.
Beijing has condemned this US move and has rejected American attempts to interfere in its relations with Tehran. Although Beijing and Washington are not currently engaged in an open confrontation in the region, China's increased presence in the region's energy certainly has the potential to create Sino-US rivalry in the future. In the US, there is considerable concern over a possible US-China collision over energy.

In December, 2005 Joseph Lieberman, a hard-line senator who is known by his pro-war statements, raised the spectre of military conflict between the two nations.
"We are heading toward two-thirds reliance of each country on foreign oil. Let's recognize this problem before it becomes an intense competition which can actually lead to military conflict."
Jon Alterman of the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies, who has co-authored a new study on China's interests in the region entitled "The Vital Triangle: China, the United States, and the Middle East" thinks that "the tendency in the US is to see China as a threat or counter to US interests. The Chinese lose sleep at night thinking that their energy dependence relies on the Middle East".

Most experts point out that the clear erosion of American influence in the region means that the US is no longer able to set the agenda, or control events as it once did, which is a positive fact.
There is no doubt here that the cooperation between Iran and China will be fundamental in order to counter Washington's unilateralism and global hegemonic intentions.