Despite international pressure on China to cut its oil imports from Iran, imports from that country remain unchanged, China Development Bank Chairman Chen Yuan said Wednesday.
Despite international pressure on
China
to
cut its oil imports from
Iran
,
imports from that country remain unchanged, China Development Bank Chairman
Chen Yuan said Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation
Organization, Mr. Chen also said that member states in the group are actively
looking to create a regional central bank that would promote the use of local
currencies to reduce their dependence on the U.S. dollar in their trade.
"
China
has
always imported oil from
Iran
and
continues to do so now," Mr. Chen told reporters. "There's no
difference now compared to before."
The
U.S.
and
the European Union are planning to tighten sanctions on
Iran
's oil
exports and have been ratcheting up the pressure to convince the
Middle
East
country to abandon its controversial nuclear program.
Iran
says
its intentions are peaceful.
Iran
was
China
's
third largest supplier of imported oil last year, shipping about 557,000
barrels a day, according to Chinese customs data.
China
was
the largest buyer of Iranian crude oil in the first half of 2011, accounting
for 22% of
Iran
's
crude exports, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Mr. Chen declined to comment on long-stalled Sino-Russian gas talks, which
could deliver 70 billion cubic meters of gas a year to
China
but
have been stalled over pricing issues.
But he noted that cooperation with
Russia
is
crucial for the bank, which plays a major role in financing
China
's
infrastructure projects domestically and overseas.
He added that the bank had a lending exposure of $38.5 billion to the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization countries with some $28.6 billion in loans outstanding
to
Russia
as of
March.
"We will see more cooperation with [
Russia
's]
Far Eastern region in the future," he said.
China
has
been eager to create a bigger role for the yuan on the world stage, and it has
been widely believed to be pushing for a regional central bank that might
advance that objective. But that plan faces major hurdles, particularly how
much sovereignty would have to be surrendered by member countries.
Mr. Chen also said the bank sees growing demand for use of the yuan in the
region, though its use in lending so far has been limited.
"China Development Bank has already extended yuan-denominated loans to
Central Asian countries, but for very small amounts," he said.
He added that more currency swaps between the region's central banks would help
reach that objective.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization groups
Russia
,
China
,
Kazakhstan
,
Kyrgyzstan
,
Tajikistan
and
Uzbekistan
.
Iran
holds
observer status, as do
India
,
Pakistan
and
Mongolia
.
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