Although the fifth-largest oil producer in the world, China is a major importer of oil as well, consuming more than twice as much as it produces. In 2010, the percent of China's oil consumption imported from abroad grew by more than 50 percent. A large quantity of this oil comes from North Africa and the Middle East and from countries that are considered politically unstable. Libya, which has been wracked by civil war in recent weeks limiting some of its energy production, provides China with about 3-3.5 percent of Beijing's total oil imports, and the Chinese have great interest in Libya's future as a supplier, given that they increased their investment in the country more than 25 percent in 2010. Beijing is growing concerned about the unrest sweeping the Middle East and the potential impact it could have — not just on oil prices, but the ability of those prices to exacerbate the country's already significant inflation problems.
