China denounces Iran-related sanctions by US

China on Friday denounced the Trump administration's Iran-related sanctions issued on Thursday which also target Chinese firms.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday issued sanctions targeting several entities in China for facilitating the transportation of Iranian oil.

The U.S. State Department separately imposed sanctions on two China-based operators of oil-related terminals and storage, saying they handled imports of Iranian oil aboard tankers previously targeted by U.S. sanctions.

"China stands firmly against illegal unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law or authorization by the UN Security Council. We urge the U.S. side to abandon its wrongdoings of arbitrary sanctions," said Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning at a press conference in Beijing in commenting on the latest U.S. sanctions.

"Normal cooperation between Iran and other countries within the framework of international law is justified and reasonable. China will take necessary measures to defend the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and nationals," Mao said.

China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.

The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.

According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.

In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.