Joint efforts help maintain peace in Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean has become increasingly important to China with its rise. The strategic interests of China in the Indian Ocean can be found in the following areas.

The first interest is resource security, particularly oil security. Now, China is the largest oil consumer and the largest oil importer in the world, and the Indian Ocean has huge reserves of oil and natural gas. The Persian Gulf contains 62 percent of the proven oil reserves in the world and 35 percent of natural gas. Over the past years the Persian Gulf has been China's largest source of oil imports, and the total amount of oil imported from the Persian Gulf account for half of China's total.

The second interest is the security of the trading route. China is the largest trader in the world with dependence on foreign trade of more than 80 percent, and 90 percent of its foreign trade is through the sea. It means the sea line of communication is of extreme significance to China. The Indian Ocean is an important passage linking China to South Asia, West Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania. And the oil transported through the Indian Ocean accounts for 80 percent of the total imported by China, and China's trade via the Indian Ocean accounts for 40 percent of the total. So it is no exaggeration to say that rapid development of China's economy is based on the booming trans-Indian Ocean trade.