Despite the covid-19 comeback, life in China is about to return to normal. From playgrounds to cafes and restaurants, almost everything has been opened. China has set many records in 2020, from metal production to a trade surplus at the end of the year. Among them, China's crude oil imports increased by 7.3%, reaching approximately 542 million tons.

The flow of crude oil into China comes at a time when refining facilities are increasing purchases, taking advantage of low prices and the industry’s rapid recovery in the past year. China's demand for oil is only a small part of the main economic phenomenon. Compared with the beginning of the epidemic in 2020, China's exports in January and February increased sharply, exceeding 60%. In mid-2020, China recovered from COV cases to a low level, which also promoted the recovery of imports, especially those products needed to support China’s industrial machinery. Compared with the U.S. dollar, imports of these commodities reached their highest level in September.

In addition to its role in gasoline and diesel, petroleum also plays an important role in the development of petrochemicals, and petrochemical products are included in daily consumer products such as plastics and polyester. Although China continues to import large amounts of crude oil, in the first two months of 2021, China's crude oil exports as a percentage of GDP increased by 1.9%. In 2016, China became one of the major exporters of petroleum products and one of the world's top ten exporters of refined oil. In 2020, the share price of Rongsheng Petrochemical, the owner of the facility, rose 141%. These projects confirm that changes in the way China's petroleum products trade, rather than oil itself, are continuing to recover. This change is also related to the role of state-owned private institutions, with Chinese government agencies such as Sinopec and PetroChina controlling the industry.

As new companies enter the industry, the share of crude oil imports by Chinese non-governmental companies has increased by approximately 20%. While Chinese companies are increasing their domestic oil refining capacity, there are also some complicated factors related to China's trading partners. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, in December 2020, U.S. oil exports to China alone reached 7 million barrels. This amount is significantly lower than the 22 million barrels in the same month of 2019. It is expected that in the coming months, the industrial boom in certain industries in China will shift to a consumer-led recovery, which may affect China’s appetite for petroleum ore, especially as the domestic market continues to rise in oil prices. Although China’s crude oil imports are an industrial model after the 2008 global financial crisis, as China tries to reach the top of the value ladder, the number of petroleum products may have a different perspective on China’s long-term economic transformation. Editor/Xu Shengpeng