China To Avoid Hormuz? Xi Jinping Shows Interest In Buying US Oil In Talks With Trump

1 min readUpdated: May 14, 2026 03:49 PM IST

Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed interest in buying more US oil in order to reduce Beijing’s dependency on the Strait of Hormuz during talks with President Donald Trump on Thursday, White House stated in a readout of the meeting.

Conflicting reports and official silences

However, there wasn’t any mention of buying oil in the Chinese summary of the meeting published later by Beijing’s state media, Associated Press reported.

Historical import volatility

China, which is the largest importer of oil in the world, doesn’t import much of its crude requirement from the United States. The AP report stated that Beijing’s import of Washington’s oil soared to 395,000 barrels per day in ‌2020, which was China’s 4 percent of total crude imports.

Before Trump returned to office in 2024, China’s crude import from US fell to 193,000 barrels per day, which was worth $6 billion.

Trade war impacts and current standstill

After the Trump administration imposed a 20 percent import tariff last year during its trade war, China has not imported any US oil since May 2025.

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