During President Trump's ongoing state visit to China, he and President Xi Jinping agreed that the Strait of Hormuz must be open for the free flow of energy. They along with their senior officials have expressed agreement that no country can be allowed to exact shipping tolls in the Strait of Hormuz.
Following this, Thursday saw Iranian state media proclaim that some 30 Chinese vessels are being allowed safe passage by Iran. Bloomberg also freshly reports, "The vessels were allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz with the coordination of the Iranian authorities and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ navy, state TV reports, citing an IRGC naval official." While it's as yet unknown or unclear whether the US Navy side of the de facto blockade will also let them pass, Reuters has also reported the following:
Iran has begun allowing some Chinese vessels to transit through the Strait of Hormuz following an understanding over Iranian management protocols for the waterway, the semi-official Fars news agency said on Thursday, citing an informed source.
In particular the move also follows formal requests by China's foreign minister as well as Beijing's ambassador to Iran, with Tehran reportedly agreeing based on safeguarding the two allies' strategic partnership.
Bloomberg cited the IRGC official as saying of the Iranian protocol for passage, "A new era in the Strait of Hormuz has started as many countries of the world and fleets have accepted that the best, quickest and simplest way for transiting this very important waterway is only though coordination with the IRGC’s naval forces."
This was after Wednesday saw the key milestone of a Chinese supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of Iraqi crude having successfully passed through the Strait of Hormuz, after previously being stranded for more than two months.
Also of note is that the Chinese Cosco Shipping tanker did not have to pay tolls. According to The Wall Street Journal:
Lloyd’s List Intelligence data show the Yuan Hua Hu crossed the waterway through the corridor in the north controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Ship trackers said the vessel switched off its transponder while sailing from an anchorage in Dubai towards Larak, then came back online for a couple of hours before going dark again. Ships crossing through Larak pay an average of $2 million each, according to brokers.
The Yuan Hua Hu is the third Chinese state-owned tanker to leave the Gulf since the start of the war.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott emphasized earlier this week that Washington and Beining "agreed that no country or organization can be allowed to charge tolls to pass through international waterways like the Strait of Hormuz."
China imports the bulk of its energy from the Middle East, and while it has amassed substantial crude oil stockpiles that are helping it weather the worst of the crisis - anecdotally over 1.4 billion barrels - restoring normal flows from the Persian Gulf is important for one of the world’s top energy importers.
Are Iran and China coordinating behind the scenes to seek to take negotiating leverage away from Trump?
Earlier in the war, reports emerged that Beijing had pressured Iranian officials to stop attacking vessels carrying crude oil and LNG via Hormuz. Judging from later events that involved Iranian strikes on vessels in the chokepoint, Tehran did not yield to the pressure.