Putting China’s African oil hunt into perspective

China’s high-profile oil diplomacy in Africa has been roundly criticized. But, East-West Center Senior Fellow ZhongXiang Zhang says many of those complaints are based on “exaggerated and erroneous information.” Ahead of the upcoming November 3 – 5 Forum of China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, Zhang argues China’s foray into Africa in search of energy supplies has to be put into perspective.

Zhang admits that China is now able to supply some 94 percent of its overall energy needs at home, and estimates put that figure at a still substantial two-thirds by the year 2020. But, “this by no means questions the increased importance of China’s growing oil imports.”

And, those imports have been on the rise. China is now second only to the United States in terms of oil imports.
The News