SHANGHAI - The first week of September witnessed a milestone SCO summit and a grand gathering to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian together with heads of states and governments and representatives of more than twenty countries were present. 

The two events together would certainly signify some big changes in global balance of power as China demonstrated its political leadership in shaping the agendas of global governance and safeguarding post-war international order and its hard military power as well. 
    
There are always doubts and questions and even challenges about what kind of actor China will be with its rise. Will China grow to be another hegemonic power like the United States and those other hegemonies in human history pressuring others? Will China bully other countries with its military forces?
    
These questions were raised twenty years ago, are being raised and will be raised by people across the world even including friends from Iran. But history and the practices of contemporary China indicate that China can always be a trustworthy partner for Iran and for other nations struggling for peace and justice.
    
Firstly, China is a peaceful nation and will never be a hegemonic power. Unlike most other ancient powers, China had remained defensive and responsive in strategic posture in its long history. China, for thousands of years, had just built the walls defending itself from being looted and robbed of, and had continued this kind of practice in its ancient history. The Great Wall ran more than 20 thousand kilometers across its northwestern, northern and northeastern territories. 
    
China did construct strong military forces and strategic theories like The Art of War by Sun Tzu, but these forces were a result of response to external invasion by nature rather than a cause of a threat. To put it another way, despite its military buildup, China’s strategic culture has long been defensive and responsive. For thousands of years, the spirit of the Great Wall among others has become a part of the DNA in Chinese culture.
    
Despite its strong military, China never aggressed its neighbors. This can be very easily checked in history books. Unfortunately, it was Japan that had aggressed China many times in the 1890s through 1945 when it gained military advantage for a very short period of time. 
    
In modern times, China has constructed very strong military forces particularly in the last two decades. However, China has refrained from using military means to address issues related to its territorial integrity and sovereignty while others could have legitimately turned for military solutions. The tensions behind these issues could be far more severe than those in other regions as they are more decisive in defining future international order. It is expected that China will exercise its utmost restraint in the strategic competition with the U.S. though it is questionable whether this kind of restraint is limitless in the face of provocations.
    
China-Iran relations are peaceful and harmonious in history and in modern times. The two has been connected, and has been learning from each other by the ancient silk road. Many of Chinese cultural elements are actually from Iran, and a lot of Chinese artworks, vegetables, fruits and pet animals were originated in Iran. In recent and modern times, China has been the only big country that has never aggressed Iran, and has never exercised any economic pressure on Iran.
    
Secondly, China is a nation respecting sovereignty and follows a non-interference policy. Contemporary history of international relations has witnessed too many cases of Western interference into the domestic politics of non-Western countries in the beautiful name of intervention, which originally refers to positive medical treatment for cure. And interference in the name of intervention is even regarded as the privilege of big powers and superpowers.
Confucius advocates that we should never do to others what you yourselves do not like. China has been standing for five principles of peaceful co-existence, has unequivocally stated its policy of respecting the sovereignty and mutual non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, and has abided by these principles in handling relations with other countries since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
    
Interference is fundamentally the manifestation of political arrogance. Most, if not all, Western countries actually have not politically recognized the political systems of non-Western countries including that of Iran, which is one of the deep-rooted reasons behind the tensions between the U.S. and Iran. They call all non-Western political systems as authoritarian or dictatorship.
    
But China is in a sharp contrast in this regard. China recognizes and never challenges the political legitimacy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and would like to see Iran’s development and prosperity as an important regional and international actor. In this regard, President Xi Jinping’s speech is very clear and sincere while meeting Iranian President Pezeshkian in October 2024. In that meeting, he said that the Chinese side supports Iran in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and national dignity, steadily advancing its own economic and social development. 
    
Simply put, China never interferes in Iran’s domestic affairs, and would like to see Iran growing strong with political stability. 
    
Thirdly, China is a nation favoring win-win approach in economic relations. It is taken for granted that countries would seek maximal interests in trade and other economic engagements, and bargain is a way to achieve that purpose. This kind of mentality exists in Western business culture and some other cultural backgrounds.
    
But Chinese traditional culture stands for reasonable profits instead of one-sided maximal profits, and Chinese believe that only balanced business relations will make business sustainable, which favors long-term interests while one-sided maximal profits will hurt the interests of the other side and hurt the business relations in longer term.
    
It is officially written in many official Chinese documents that China would seek win-win cooperation, by which China means to pay regard to the profits of the other side, and both sides of the business should have reasonable benefits. Some partners used to challenge the BRI as they are worried that the benefits are not balanced though it is certainly unnecessary. But it should be mentioned that trade problems like deficits or surpluses could always be there as a result of various different reasons.
    
China is one of Iran’s major economic partners, which well reflects the mutual complementary nature of the two economies. But no evidence indicates that China has the intention to exploit Iranian economic resources. For the sake of sustainable economic relations, China does not have reasons to maximize its interests though problems need to be addressed timely.
    
Last but not the least, China is a nation ready to support the legitimate cause of nations to fight for justice. President Xi has mentioned many times China’s support for the cause of justice in international community. He said on September 3, 2025, that “history cautions us that we must remain unwavering in our conviction in justice”, “might may rule the moment, but right prevails forever”, “justice, light and progress will inevitably triumph over evil, darkness and regression”, and we must “resolutely defend international fairness and justice”.
    
The history of China-Iran relations has seen mutual support for justice. Iran demonstrated its political support for China to fight for justice regarding some territorial issues. China has been a strong supporter of Iran’s struggle for justice in the nuclear issue. 
    
The recent 12-day war saw Iran’s brave fight for justice, and China demonstrated fully its support for Iran in this regard. President Xi delivered his four-point proposal calling for an immediate ceasefire; China’s foreign minister Wang Yi reached Iran’s foreign minister twice with message of support; China also proposed a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire together with Russia and Pakistan on June 23.
    
Mutual support for the fight for justice is one of the prominent features of China-Iran relations. The world will see the resurgence of unilateralism, and mutual support for the cause of justice will be a defining feature of China-Iran relations.
    
To sum up, China certainly is a peaceful nation worthy of trust for Iran and for others as well instead of a potential hegemonic power. The above-mentioned are just four among the numerous aspects that well manifest the trustworthiness of China as a partner though we can find more evidences in ancient and modern histories. 
    
China is widely recognized as a partner in Iran and other countries in the world. However, the efforts to demonize China’s image are always there in the West, which is and will be very detrimental on China-Iran relations. Both China and Iran will have to be always alert against demonization and defamation.
    
The recent visit of President Pezeshkian added very strong new momentum in the relations between the two, and relations between the two will see a new milestone. However, the obstacles, mainly because of technical issues, could always be there. It is reasonable to expect high for the partnership, but it is also necessary to manage expectations for relations between the two as over-expectation could also undermine the relationship.

Jin Liangxiang is a Senior Fellow of Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS)