China and Asean eye closer energy cooperation as fighting flares up again in Middle East

The region is heavily reliant on oil imports and has been severely affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz

A joint statement, released after a meeting between the bloc’s foreign ministers and their Chinese counterpart in Manila, came amid an ongoing energy crisis.

According to the World Economic Forum Asia, 55 per cent of Southeast Asian crude oil imports originate from the Middle East, leaving up to 28 per cent of the region’s final energy consumption exposed to direct disruption.

Kao Kim Hourn, the secretary general of Asean, warned last month that the crisis in the Middle East had “laid bare the vulnerability of global energy and food supply chains to geopolitical shocks” and called for deeper cooperation with China.

Building on a previous statement from the 11-member bloc, the joint statement welcomed the ongoing US–Iran negotiations mediated by Pakistan and Qatar and called for a ceasefire and “a peaceful and lasting resolution” to the conflict.