CRUDE OIL IMPORTED VIA THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ
China
5.4 million barrels per day
in the first quarter of 2025
South Korea
1.7 mb/d
Japan
1.6 mb/d
Rest of Asia
2.0 mb/d
Europe
0.5
U.S.
0.4
India
2.1 mb/d
Rest of the
world
0.6 mb/d
How China can survive without the Strait of Hormuz
[color=rgb(119, 119, 119) !important]
By [color=rgb(119, 119, 119) !important]Sumanta Sen, [color=rgb(119, 119, 119) !important]
Pasit Kongkunakornkul, [color=rgb(119, 119, 119) !important]
Sam Li, [color=rgb(119, 119, 119) !important]
Lewis Jackson and [color=rgb(119, 119, 119) !important]
Colleen Howe
[color=rgb(119, 119, 119) !important]
Published March 31, 2026 06:00 PM EDT
The world’s largest importer of oil through the Strait of Hormuz is, paradoxically, also one of the best placed to weather the waterway’s closure.
China consumes oceans of oil from the Gulf and imports roughly as much from the region as India, Japan and South Korea combined. In response to the closure of the Strait, officials across Asia are asking citizens to take shorter showers or work from home to save energy. In China, the ruling Communist Party’s flagship newspaper is instead telling readers the country holds its own “energy rice bowl.” While the editorial does not mention that Beijing has unofficially banned fuel exports to conserve supplies, the country is nonetheless more insulated than many of its neighbours thanks to years of policy measures that have reduced its vulnerability to energy shocks. China boasts an electric vehicle fleet about as large as the rest of the world’s combined, vast and growing oil stockpiles, diversified supplies of oil, and gas and an electricity grid that is almost insulated from imports thanks to domestic coal and renewables.
“The current situation is really close to what Chinese planners have had in mind for decades,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, co-founder of the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air in Finland.
“It validates the drive to reduce reliance on seaborne fossil fuels.”
The unexpected EV boomIn late 2020, Beijing issued a goal for electric vehicle purchases to hit 20% of new sales in 2025. By last year, sales hit half of all new vehicles.
That unexpected boom in EVs means China’s fuel consumption has topped out after decades of breakneck growth. The country is burning and importing less oil than it was expected to just a few years ago. Oil displaced by EVs last year was roughly equal to what China imported from Saudi Arabia, according to estimates from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air.
[size=18.864px]China’s grid is mostly powered by coal and, increasingly, renewables[size=18.864px]Share of electricity production in China by source
80%
70
60
Coal
50
China’s 12th five year plan (2011-2015) put the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions at the top of its agenda
40
Renewables
30
20
10
Nuclear
Gas
0
Oil
1985
1990
1995
2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
[size=18.864px]Chart showing the electricity production mix in China from the 80s until today. In the last roughly 15 years, China is using less coal and more renewables, though coal is still by far the biggest source of electricity.
Note: Includes transportation, electricity, industry and all the other uses to which energy is put. Renewables include hydropower, solar, wind, biofuels, biomass, and waste energy.
Source: Energy Institute’s Statistical Review of World Energy (2025) with processing by Our World in Data
[size=18.864px]China keeps its oil imports diversified[size=18.864px]Crude oil import volumes by origin for major importers. Less than 20% of China’s oil imports are from any one source.
20%
40
60
80
100
China
Russia
Saudi Arabia
Iraq
Malaysia
Oman
UAE
India
Iraq
Saudi Arabia
UAE
Russia
South Korea
U.S.
UAE
Kuwait
Saudi Arabia
Japan
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
[size=18.864px]Chart showing the share of crude oil imports over the last five years for China, India, South Korea and Japan by origin. China’s two largest sources of imported oil are Russia and Saudi Arabia, but neither contribute more than 20%. All the other countries’ two largest sources make up more than 40% of their oil imports.
Note: Most of the oil labelled Malaysian is rebranded Iranian oil. The United States is not shown because it is a net exporter of oil. Data for India is from 2021 to 2024, other countries also include 2025.
Source: International Trade Centre’s calculation based on UN COMTRADE, General Customs Administration of China, India’s Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence & Statistics, Korea Customs and Trade Development Institute, and Japanese Ministry of Finance statistics
