China calls for end to Middle East conflict

China called for an end to conflict in the Gulf and said the safety of waterways should not be disturbed on Thursday, adding that it was ready to work with Southeast Asia to address energy shortages as oil markets reel from supply shocks.

- 

While the US-Israeli war on Iran has allowed China to cast itself as the more reliable superpower, analysts say it is wary of global energy market uncertainty, not least because it needs the resources it has been stockpiling since the late 2000s to power the manufacturing sector underpinning its economy.

Assisting Southeast Asia's 700 million people would be welcome relief to the region's oil importers, after an order by Beijing earlier this month to ban Chinese exports of diesel, gasoline and jet fuel. China is also curbing exports of fertilisers, which rely on oil and gas refining byproducts, to protect its domestic market.