China

China opposed the IAEA Board's 9 September vote, 23 to 3 with eight abstentions, that sent Iran's file to the UN Security Council, the first such referral in two decades. As a permanent member holding a veto, it can stop any binding measure that follows.

It used that power on 17 September, when China and Russia vetoed renewal of the UN panel investigating Iran sanctions breaches by 11 votes to two, ending the panel's mandate around 26 September. Britain accused Beijing and Moscow of shielding Tehran. The veto followed a June stand in which China and Russia blocked a US-backed push at the IAEA to restore inspections.

China is the main buyer of Iranian oil, and US enforcement has crept towards its suppliers. On 5 June the US Treasury named Shanghai Qianye Energy as the first mainland Chinese company sanctioned under Iran energy rules during the 2026 war.

The buying continued regardless. United Against Nuclear Iran estimated on 24 June that 31 tankers had earned Tehran about $3.5bn since the 14 June Ceasefire deal, with most of the oil bound for China. When Washington revoked its Iranian oil waiver on 7 July, Chinese purchases settled in yuan were left untouched, and Beijing's own banking regulator had curbed state-bank credit to sanctioned refiners in late May.

On 28 April a Hangzhou court upheld rulings that employers must consider retraining and reassignment before using automation savings to dismiss staff. the Court applied China's 2008 Labour Contract Law and restored compensation to a quality-assurance supervisor WHO had been cut and dismissed.

On 15 September the Labour ministry followed with an Action Plan for AI and employment naming three programmes but no numeric targets. An AI recruitment week from 14 to 20 September drew more than 1,700 employers and over 13,000 AI job openings. Together the ruling and the plan set worker protection beside technology adoption in China's Labour policy, without committing the state to a measurable jobs outcome.