Oil smuggling goes into reverse in China

Truck and mini-van drivers shuttling between Hong Kong and the Chinese border city of Shenzhen are earning extra income from selling a tankful of petrol, or more, bought on the mainland.

They find eager buyers such as lorry driver Ah Man, a mover who spends nearly a third of his HK$15,000 (1,000 pound) monthly income on petrol.

A litre of diesel costs double and petrol, or gasoline, three times more in Hong Kong than in Shenzhen, just an hour’s drive away, encouraging an unusual flow of petrol out of southern China into the territory, despite stiff penalties.