Oil and soy: ‘the fate of our nati • Table.Briefings

China is an export nation. But its exports are also dependent on imports. The country needs technology inputs and raw materials from abroad. And the majority has to be acquired from its geopolitical rivals. The trade war with the US has demonstrated Beijing its own vulnerability since 2018. This is why it opts for in-house developments for components and supplier diversification for raw materials.

When we think of import dependency, one very specific resource comes to mind: crude oil. The People’s Republic of China has been the world’s largest oil importer since 2017. And the gap between a stagnating domestic production volume and the ever-growing demand is widening. As if that were not enough, oil is not the only resource of which China has too little. Aside from fragile power security, there are other vulnerabilities.

Oil and soy: ‘the fate of our nation’

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