The Chinese government has criticized imposed sanctions by the United States on a Chinese firm for selling refined petroleum products to Iran.

The United States announced that the Chinese firm, Zhuhai Zhenrong, was one of the three international firms to be punished for dealing with Iran.

China’s foreign ministry said the sanctions on the Chinese firm based on US law were not reasonable.

The sanctions come as China’s Premier Wen Jiabao visits Arab oil-producing nations amid tensions over major sanctions-related disruption to Iranian oil exports.

He visited Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Saudi Arabia is China’s biggest source of imported oil.