The crisis in the Middle East is set to push China closer to Russia, analysts warned, as Beijing confronts the potential loss of cheap Iranian oil supplies and long-term disruption to energy markets.
China is the world’s largest oil and gas importer and relies on Iran for 13 per cent of its crude oil imports. In all, one-third of China’s oil and 25 per cent of its gas imports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, through which shipment has been all but halted since US-Israeli strikes on Iran plunged the region into crisis.