China prepared for a global energy crisis for years. It is paying off.

Xi Jinping has been preparing for a crisis like this for years. 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 all but closed and key energy facilities across the region under attack.

Oil exports from the Middle East have tumbled 61% over recent weeks, Kpler says, roiling countries across Asia, which relied on the region for 59% of its crude imports in 2025. China 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, explained in a recent paper — from huge reserves of oil and liquefied natural gas to a robust domestic supply, including alternative energy sources such as wind and solar.

China, Middle East

china, energy security, xi jinping, oil exports, middle east, hormuz strait, kpler, lng, strategic reserves, renewables