Strategic chokepoint
China Daily | Updated: 2010-03-06 08:00
The 900-km long (550 miles) Malacca Strait links Asia with the Middle East and Europe, carrying about 40 percent of the world's trade. More than 50,000 merchant ships ply the waterway every year.
About 3.3 million barrels per day (bpd) of Middle East crude passed through the strait and to Japan last year. Middle East crude accounts for 90 percent of Japan's total imports.
Nearly 80 percent of China's crude oil imports pass through the Straits from the Middle East and Africa.
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