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Where Does China Buy Its Oil?

by Eric Olander

Africa’s share of China’s oil imports has been steadily declining over the past 15 years but the continent nonetheless remains Beijing’s second-largest source of crude after the Persian Gulf.

In 2008, according to George Washington University China-Africa scholar David Shinn, China imported close to 30% of its oil from Angola, the Republic of Congo and Sudan. Today, that figure is down to just 18%.

Interestingly, this chart does not include the U.S. which is fast becoming one of China’s largest suppliers of both oil and liquified natural gas.

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