China’s Refiners Turn to Fast-Expanding Fuel Exports for Growth

Transport fuel is one of China’s fastest growing export sectors as the government increasingly leans on overseas sales to keep its vast oil refineries humming.

Beijing’s generous quotas for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel are allowing refiners to bypass uncertain home demand and profit from stronger world prices for oil products. That’s helping the economy’s otherwise poor export performance since the end of the pandemic, although it comes at an environmental cost.

The government’s fuel-export program “has certainly become a way this year to support economic activity and help generate growth,” said Michal Meidan, director of the China ...