Below are a series of key questions and answers about that relationship:
How much oil did China buy?
China imported about 400,000 barrels a day of Venezuelan oil last year, according to data compiled by trade information firm Kpler.
That figure represented more than half of all crude oil exported from the country, according to calculations.
Much of the Venezuelan oil destined for China is transferred from one ship to another in waters near Malaysia or through third countries, as a way to hide the product subject to strict US sanctions.
Exports were a crucial lifeline for the Maduro government and kept the state apparatus afloat in the face of growing pressure from Washington and latent internal unrest.
How is that oil used?
Venezuelan crude oil is heavy and “sour”, with a high sulfur content that requires intensive processing.
In China, that work is done primarily by small independent refineries concentrated near the country’s eastern coast, known as “teapots.”
Unlike the state giants, the independent “teapots” are fierce, profit-oriented companies that, together, are the main buyers of cheap and sanctioned oil, such as that of Venezuela or Iran.
In addition to being a source of energy, Venezuelan oil is also used to make asphalt to pave roads and bitumen to waterproof building roofs.
What did Beijing gain from this relationship?
China depends on imports from various strategic suppliers for its own energy security. Venezuela represented only a small part of that equation.
It was the source of about 4% to 5% of China’s crude oil imports last year, according to estimates.
Many shipments of oil were used to pay for Beijing’s substantial investment in Venezuelan development projects over recent decades.
Caracas still owes about $10 billion on Chinese loans that amounted to $60 billion in 2023, according to the Center for Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.
China harbors “the hope that Latin America, including Venezuela, will be an important node for its Belt and Road Initiative,” Dan Wang, China director of the Eurasia Group, told AFP, referring to President Xi Jinping’s emblematic foreign investment commitment.
Beijing seeks to “unite the Global South,” Wang said, noting that “important progress” has been made with “some friendly countries” in the region, including Venezuela.
Can China continue buying Venezuelan oil?
Washington’s military intervention is likely to cut off oil flows in the short term.
But soon after ousting Maduro, Trump said U.S. companies will eventually sell “large amounts” of Venezuelan crude to global buyers – including “many… of those who are using it now” – once the crumbling local industry is rebuilt.
