China must secure its energy supply “in its own hands”, its president was reported to have said during a visit to one of its vast oilfields in 2021.
The US-Israel war on Iran plunged the Middle East into a deep conflict, with the strait of Hormuz – one of the most important waterways in global trade – all but closed and key energy facilities across the region under attack.
Oil exports from the Middle East have tumbled 61% over recent weeks, according to maritime tracking consultancy Kpler – roiling countries across Asia, which relied on the region for 59% of its crude imports in 2025, and have been left racing to conserve energy.
But China, the world’s second-largest economy, appears to be in a very different position to much of the continent.
Its energy system has “significant buffers”, Michal Meidan, the head of China energy research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, an independent research institute, explained in a recent paper – from huge reserves of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) to a robust domestic supply, including alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar.
China, which usually imports around half its crude supplies from the Middle East, is not as exposed as other Asian economies. “While a very high proportion, it is limited when compared to Japan, India or Korea,” said Meidan. Japan, for example, sources about 95% of its oil imports from the region.
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