CRUDE OIL IMPORTED VIATHE STRAIT OF HORMUZChina5.4 million barrels per day in Q1 2025South Korea1.7 mb/dJapan1.6 mb/dRest of Asia2.0 mb/dEur-ope0.5U.S.0.4India2.1 mb/dOthers0.6 mb/dHow China can survive without the Strait of HormuzBy Sumanta Sen, Pasit Kongkunakornkul, Sam Li, Lewis Jackson and Colleen HowePublished March 31, 2026 16:00 GMT-6The 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.The EV boom means China imports much less oilAnnual oil consumption displaced by electric vehicles in ChinaInternational Energy Agency (IEA)Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA)2020‘22‘242030Projection204060Volume of oilimported from Iraq(3rd largestsupplier, 2025)Oil fromSaudi Arabia(2nd largestsupplier, 2025)80By one estimate,EVs displacedmore oil in 2025than Chinaimported from Iraq.Oil from Russia(top supplier,2025)100120 million tonsChart showing the annual oil consumption displaced by electric vehicles in China annually from two different sources. The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air show nearly 80 million tons of oil was displaced in 2025 while the International Energy Agency estimated less than 40 million tons were displaced in 2024.Note: The IEA has not released an estimate for 2025Source: International Energy Agency; Centre for Research on Energy and Clean AirAn insulated electricity gridChina’s electricity grid is powered almost entirely by coal and rapidly growing renewable energy. The boom in clean energy, which has exceeded Beijing’s own targets, is such that almost all the extra power the economy requires each year is met with new solar or wind. That means fewer coal imports and less liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported into the handful of coastal provinces where it is part of the electricity mix.China’s grid is mostly powered by coal and, increasingly, renewablesShare of electricity production in China by source80%Coal60China’s 12th five year plan (2011-2015) put the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions at the top of its agenda40Renewables20OilNuclearGas01990200020102020Chart 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 DataLots of oil, but many suppliersChina imports lots of oil, but in contrast to other major Asian importers, it is careful to stay independent of any one supplier.Take Japan: Tokyo normally buys nearly 80% of its oil from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. China bought the same share of oil from eight countries, including large amounts of discounted oil from Russia, Venezuela and Iran, which U.S. sanctions place off limits for most buyers.China keeps its oil imports diversifiedCrude oil import volumes by origin for major importers. Less than 20% of China’s oil imports are from any one source.SouthKoreaJapanChinaIndiaRussiaRussiaSaudiArabiaSaudiArabia20%SaudiArabiaIraqIraqUnitedStates40UnitedArabEmirates(UAE)MalaysiaSaudiArabiaUAEOman60KuwaitUAEUAE80100Chart 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 statisticsChina also funnels a share of those imports into the storage tanks of its secretive strategic petroleum reserve. No one knows exactly how big the reserves are, but combined with stocks held by commercial refiners, China has enough oil in storage to replace imports via the Strait of Hormuz for perhaps seven months by some estimates.China’s has enough oil stored to cover seven months of imports via Hormuz1,500 millionbarrels1,000500Estimated imports viathe Strait of Hormuzin a yearStockpilesA bar chart showing the quantity of crude oil China imported via the Strait of Hormuz and the quantity in its stockpiles. Its oil stockpiles are nearly 70% of its imports via the Strait of HormuzNote: Stockpiles are an average estimate of onshore stocks from Kpler, Energy Aspects, and Vortexa. That includes both government and commercial storage.Source: China customs; Vortexa, Kpler, and Energy Aspects estimates; International Energy AgencyDomestic production is growingChina produced 4.3 million barrels per day of oil last year, a new record that was equal to about 40% of all oil imports. However, oil reserves are drying up and China is unlikely to replicate the U.S. shale oil boom.Gas, however, is another story. Domestic production is growing fast enough that, combined with gas imported via pipeline, China is actually importing less LNG than it did in 2020.China’s gas production has kept pace with rising consumptionSources of natural gas, relative to consumption, since 2015LNG imported via shipping350 million tonsTotal gas consumption250150LNG importshave flatlined50201520202015Pipeline gas import350 million tons250150Power of Siberia pipeline from Russia began pumping gas in 201950201520202015Domestic gas production350 million tons25015050201520202015Charts showing the volume of liquefied natural gas from three different sources annually since 2015. Since roughly 2020, shipped imports have not increased, while gas deliveries by pipeline and domestic production have increased.Sources: National Bureau of Statistics, China; China customs; Rystad EnergyChina’s pipeline network allows it to diversify away from seaborne imports and source oil and gas from Russia, central Asia and Myanmar. Ambitious plans have been proposed for another Russian-China pipeline, the Power of Siberia 2, however it remains years from completion.China’s pipeline gas imports have steadily risen since the Power of SiberiaIsland neighbors such as Japan or Korea do not share the same geographic advantageOperating pipelinesPipelines under constructionProposed pipelinesKara SeaYamalPower of Siberia 2Gas Pipeline*Power of SiberiaGas PipelineRussiaKovyktaKazakhstanBlagoveshchenskHulinChina-Russia Far EastGas PipelineCentral Asia-ChinaGas PipelineMongoliaHorgosChangchunSaman-DepeShijiazhuangStrait of HormuzChina(MAINLAND)ShanghaiSino-MyanmarGas PipelineGuigangMyanmarArabian SeaRakhineBay of BengalSouthChina SeaMap showing current, under construction and proposed pipelines supplying China.Note: The Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline has yet to be agreed upon, and its route is subject to change.Source: Global Energy Monitor project; China National Petroleum CorporationA more secure futureFor decades China’s growth has been fueled by fossil fuels imported from overseas, in particular crude oil. But thanks to the EV boom, China is unhitching its growth engine from foreign oil.“China’s oil demand is likely to peak this year and decline thereafter,” said Chen Lin, vice president of oil and gas research at Rystad Energy. “So although the import share will remain high, the situation is unlikely to worsen.”Additional sourcesThe data for the graphic at the top is from U.S. Energy Information Administration analysis based on Vortexa data.Edited byElla Koeze, Tony Munroe, Sonali Paul