Is China ‘winning’ the Iran war?
The Global Story
BBC
3.8 • 666 Ratings
🗓️ 28 April 2026
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As the US-Israel war with Iran reaches a diplomatic stalemate - one idea seems to be taking hold: that China is the real winner. Some have argued that the US’s biggest rival is quietly boosting its international standing, leverage and reputation as a reliable partner. Yet beneath the surface the economic situation in China looks far less triumphant. We speak to the BBC China Correspondent Laura Bicker who has been reporting from inside China’s factories and trading hubs to explore whether the potential political gains China may be accruing from the Iran war are being offset by the acute economic cost - and what this means for China’s long-term geopolitical ambitions. Producers: Aron Keller and Sam Chantarasak Digital producer: Matt Pintus Sound engineer: Travis Evans Senior news editor: China Collins (Photo: Former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, 14 February, 2023. Credit: WANA/Reuters)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts. |
| 0:05.9 | The other day, I got a newsletter from Foreign Affairs Magazine. |
| 0:10.4 | The subject read, the Iran War is a win for China. |
| 0:14.9 | Provocative, sure, but it's a narrative I keep hearing. |
| 0:18.2 | The cover of The Economist magazine earlier this month featured a |
| 0:21.6 | photo of China's leader Xi Jinping with the headline, Never Interrupt Your Enemy when he's |
| 0:26.7 | making a mistake. As the war in Iran grinds on, one big idea we keep hearing is that somehow |
| 0:34.7 | the real winner in this all is China, that the U.S.'s main rival |
| 0:39.3 | is quietly boosting its diplomatic and military standing as America gets bogged down in yet |
| 0:45.0 | another Middle East war. But is that really the full story? And what does this war mean for |
| 0:51.8 | China's long-term aspirations, especially ahead of a highly anticipated visit from President Trump next month? From the BBC, I'm Asma Khal. And today on The Global Story, is China winning a war that it isn't actually fighting? week. fighting. |
| 1:19.6 | Beijing, Beijing, this is London. |
| 1:21.1 | Good evening. |
| 1:21.7 | Good evening. |
| 1:23.0 | Good evening, Beijing. |
| 1:34.1 | To make sense of how the Iran war is playing out in China, my co-host Tristan Redman and I called up the BBC's very own China correspondent Laura Bicker. |
| 1:44.8 | Laura, I mean, we're so happy to have you here today. You are the right person at the right moment to tell us about this because one of our listeners, Sonia, got in touch with us and she asked us... Hi, Asma and Tristan. |
| 1:46.6 | I've been enjoying listening to your podcast since I found it on Spotify and Jen. |
| 1:51.2 | Thank you for the work you do to get the public more informed on such varied topics. |
| 1:56.1 | I'm curious to know how this Iran war is impacting China |
| 1:59.8 | and how China's role in this world might change as a result of it. |
| 2:03.6 | And in the global story team, you know, we've been thinking about this question of how all of this is affecting China. |
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