Beijing, March 5 (SANA) China has ordered major oil refiners to temporarily suspend exports of refined fuel products as risks to global oil supplies rise amid the conflict in the Middle East, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China’s top economic planning body, met refinery representatives and verbally instructed them to immediately halt exports of refined fuels, stop signing new export contracts and negotiate the cancellation of previously agreed shipments, the report said.
Companies including PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC, Sinochem Group and private refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical regularly receive government quotas allowing them to export fuel products.
China is one of the world’s largest oil importers and, like several major Asian economies, relies heavily on energy shipments passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route currently closed to navigation.
According to energy analytics firm Kpler, the Middle East accounted for 57 percent of China’s direct seaborne crude oil imports in 2025.
Shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has been disrupted by the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran, causing major volatility in global energy markets. The waterway is a vital corridor through which about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass.
