sure, but I doubt they could do it without implicit approval of the Chinese government
We understand your assumption or speculation. However, the facts differ somewhat from your guess.
China has many "civilian" satellite imagery companies. The most famous is "Jilin-1," a subsidiary of Changguang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd. These companies operate or release information within the bounds of the law and do not require the permission or tacit approval of the Chinese government. They have the right to make their own decisions.
However, there are some issues to be aware of.
1. The Chinese government and laws have some technical regulations regarding this type of business. Different levels of satellite imagery have different levels of restrictions. Simply put, the PLA and other national research institutions can obtain the highest level of technically advanced imagery; state-owned civilian research institutions are next; and commercial organizations can use the lowest level of imagery precision. However, for many other countries, this commercial-grade imagery precision is higher than their military-grade imagery precision.
2. Chinese law imposes strict restrictions on commercial satellite imagery agencies releasing satellite imagery of mainland China, but not so many restrictions on satellite imagery of areas outside of China. They can release almost "unrestricted" satellite imagery of regions outside of China to showcase their satellite imagery capabilities. They do not need permission from the Chinese government.
3. Chinese commercial satellite imagery service companies offer services to clients worldwide. For example, the Iranian government can purchase VIP services from Changguang Satellite Technology Co., Ltd. Utilizing the capabilities of the "Jilin-1" satellite, they can obtain 24/7 uninterrupted civilian-grade (Chinese standard) satellite imagery services covering US military bases around Iran. This does not require approval from the Chinese government. This civilian-grade satellite imagery allows Iran to monitor the real-time movements of these military bases. However, this civilian-grade satellite imagery data cannot be used for missile navigation services; this is a capability only military-grade satellites possess.
For information on the performance of "Jilin-1," please consult online resources.
The Jilin-1 satellite constellation system can currently perform 35-37 scans of any location globally every day.