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Is China Really Dependent on Middle Eastern Oil?

The Insider
Yun Sun and Kerry Anderson
March 27, 2026

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Episode Notes:

Fifty-five percent of China's oil imports come from the Middle East, so the closure of the Strait of Hormuz poses a major problem for Beijing. However, as Yun Sun wrote, China is far less dependent on oil than it used to be. Kerry talks with Yun about China's increasingly diversified energy mix, the real threats that war in the Strait of Hormuz poses, and why the United States and China should review some old assumptions.

Image: ورنيش كييي via Wikimedia Commons