President Xi Jinping says China’s priority is to expand energy and financial cooperation with Iran when US-led sanctions are removed on the energy-rich country.   

China has become Iran’s biggest oil client since the sanctions were intensified and Chinese companies have used the vacuum left by other foreign firms to expand trade involvement in the Islamic Republic.

The July conclusion of nuclear talks with Tehran has generated a wave of interest among world countries in Iran, with European and Asian governments in a race to grab business opportunities in the last remaining untouched emerging market.

In his meeting with President Hassan Rouhani on the UN General Assembly sidelines in New York, Xi said, “Iran will have ever more opportunity for foreign cooperation, and Sino-Iran ties will face a new development opportunity."

Xi said China wants to increase cooperation with Iran in the fields of railways, roads, iron and steel, auto manufacturing, electricity and high-technology.

"We must prioritize energy and financial cooperation," China’s Foreign Ministry quoted him as saying.

On Tuesday, a press report said China had resumed buying condensate from Iran for the first time in six months.

China's Unipec imported about one million barrels of the ultra-light crude from Iran in September, with the same monthly amount due to be shipped through to March, the Reuters news agency said.

The import of condensate was China’s first in six months after a major buyer of the crude, Dragon Aromatics, was shut by a fire in April.

Iranian condensate exports in September hit the highest monthly total of 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) this year, Reuters said.

Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Iran was ready to host more Chinese firms once sanctions are lifted.

He made the announcement as a senior Chinese official visited Tehran, offering to help Iran with upgrading its manufacturing technology.

"China is Iran's most appropriate partner for economic development," head of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission Zhang Yi said.