The U.S. killing of Tehran's top military commander on Iraqi soil shouldn't derail trade talks between Washington and Beijing in spite of warmer diplomatic relations between China and Iran in recent years.

"The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq should be respected, and peace and stability in the Middle East Gulf region should be maintained," China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said Friday. "We urge all parties concerned, especially the United States, to maintain calm and restraint and to avoid the further escalation of tension."

But Beijing has too much to lose in economic terms to justify anything more than stern criticism of U.S. action toward Tehran, economists and analysts said.

"China will, despite its closeness with Iran, still recognize that the U.S. is their big trade partner," said Adnan Mazarei, an Iran specialist at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and a former deputy director of the International Monetary Fund's Middle East Department.

"And, given the unfavorable sentiments in the U.S. government these days toward China, they would be very, very hesitant to come out and make declarations of any sort," he added. "None of these three countries can change trade policy overnight."

President Donald Trump's decision in 2018 to withdraw from the landmark Iran nuclear deal, in particular, drove a wedge between the U.S. and its Western allies and is widely viewed as the beginning of the recent downward spiral in U.S.-Iranian relations.

The decision also highlighted China's closer energy and business ties with Iran. Beijing announced that it wouldn't participate in U.S. oil sanctions against Tehran and last month held joint naval war exercises in the Gulf of Oman.