China crude oil imports: record 2025, the Hormuz cut and the stockpile

China crude oil imports averaged a record 11.6 million barrels a day in 2025, according to customs data compiled by the EIA, making China the world's largest buyer by a wide margin. More than 70% of the oil China consumes is imported and more than 90% of those imports arrive by sea, per Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. Most of it comes from the Persian Gulf and crosses the Strait of Malacca, which is why Beijing has spoken of a "Malacca dilemma" since 2003.

The 2026 closure of the Strait of Hormuz tested that exposure directly. Imports fell to 8.1 mb/d in the second quarter of 2026, 32% below the first quarter, and dropped under 8 mb/d in May and June for the first time since 2016. China absorbed the shock by drawing on the stockpile it built in 2025, when prices were the lowest since 2020, and by cutting refinery runs. By removing about 3.5 mb/d of demand from the market, China became the buyer that kept a supply loss of historic size from producing a proportional price spike.

Key numbers

How the dependency works

Five countries supplied 62% of China's crude imports in 2025: Russia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iraq and Brazil, per customs data analysed by Columbia's CGEP. The official list hides part of the picture. Customs has recorded no Iranian crude since 2022, yet China imported about 1.3 mb/d of "Malaysian" crude in 2025, more than twice Malaysia's own production; most of it is Iranian and Venezuelan oil relabelled after ship-to-ship transfers off Malaysia. CGEP estimates that sanctioned crude from Iran, Venezuela and Russia made up at least 2.6 mb/d, over 22% of imports.

The routes matter as much as the sellers. Russian crude arrives partly by pipeline (ESPO and the Kazakhstan line) and partly by sea from Kozmino and the Baltic. Almost everything else is seaborne, and the Gulf barrels (Saudi, Iraqi, Emirati, Kuwaiti and Iranian) must pass both Hormuz and Malacca. The main buyers are the state majors Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC, plus independent "teapot" refiners in Shandong that take most of the discounted sanctioned oil.

Why it exists

Refining capacity grew faster than domestic output. China produces a little over 4 mb/d of crude and consumes several times that, so every new refinery and petrochemical complex has added import demand. Price also drives the mix: discounts on Russian barrels after 2022 made Russia the top supplier, and Iranian crude offered through relabelling has consistently been the cheapest barrel available to teapot refiners.

Risks and disruption scenarios

The 2026 war is the reference case. Middle Eastern shipments collapsed when Hormuz closed on 28 February, customs data show imports falling nearly 40% between February and May, and June arrivals of 7.12 mb/d were the lowest since October 2016. Imports recovered to 8.41 mb/d in July, still 24% below a year earlier, per Reuters. Refiners leaned on inventories rather than bidding against the rest of Asia for scarce spot cargoes.

The remaining risks: a prolonged Hormuz closure that exhausts commercial stocks, enforcement against the relabelled Iranian trade through Malaysia, a disruption at Malacca itself, and new sanctions on Russian flows. See Russia's seaborne crude exports.

Diversification efforts

• Stockpiling. The EIA estimates Chinese crude inventories at 1,492 million barrels at the end of the second quarter of 2026, the largest it tracks. State companies planned at least 169 million barrels of new storage in 2025 and 2026, per CGEP.
• Overland supply. The ESPO pipeline from Russia, the Kazakhstan-China line and the Myanmar-China pipeline, the only route that bypasses Malacca, with about 440,000 b/d of capacity.
• Supplier mix. Imports from Brazil and Indonesia grew in 2025 as sanctions affected other sellers.
• Demand management. Export quotas for refined products, refinery run cuts and inventory draws during the 2026 crisis.

Historical incidents

What to watch

• Monthly customs data on imports by origin, and the gap between imports plus domestic output and refinery runs, which measures stock draws or builds.
• Hormuz reopening: Gulf cargoes would return to Chinese ports within about three weeks of loading.
• "Malaysian" import volumes as a proxy for Iranian flows, and any US enforcement against ship-to-ship transfer hubs.
• EIA estimates of Chinese inventories, the buffer that decides how long China can stay out of the spot market.

FAQ

How much crude oil does China import? A record 11.6 million barrels a day in 2025, according to customs data compiled by the EIA. Imports fell to 8.1 mb/d in the second quarter of 2026 after the Strait of Hormuz closed, and to a low of 7.12 mb/d in June.

Where does China get its oil? Russia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Iraq and Brazil supplied 62% of 2025 imports, per Columbia's CGEP. Most "Malaysian" crude is Iranian or Venezuelan oil relabelled at sea; sanctioned crude made up at least 2.6 mb/d, over a fifth of the total.

How did China cope with the Hormuz closure? By importing much less and drawing down stocks. It had built inventories in 2025 while prices were low, and the EIA put its crude stocks at 1,492 million barrels in mid-2026. Refiners also cut runs and product exports were curbed.

What is the Malacca dilemma? The term, used by Chinese leaders since 2003, describes China's reliance on a single sea lane it does not control for most of its oil imports. Around three-quarters of China's seaborne crude passes the Strait of Malacca. Pipelines through Russia, Kazakhstan and Myanmar reduce but do not remove that dependence.