Rising Oil Prices From Iran War Squeeze China’s Trucking and Logistics Sector

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As the Iran War continues, rising global oil prices are beginning to ripple through China’s economy, adding new strain to the country’s transportation and logistics sector.

Chinese state media Xinhua reported on March 9 that the regime’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) raised domestic gasoline and diesel prices. Truck drivers and logistics operators across China have told The Epoch Times that their operating costs are climbing at a time when freight demand is already weak due to the country’s slowing economy.

A freight adjustment notice dated March 8 has circulated widely on Chinese social media in recent days. The notice said that because refined oil prices had risen sharply, transportation costs had increased significantly, forcing companies to raise freight rates to maintain operations and service quality. The Epoch Times has confirmed the notice’s authenticity with industry insiders in China.

The document described the adjustment as a “last resort,” asking cargo owners and logistics partners for understanding and cooperation.

Industry insiders say the notice reflects how rising fuel costs are starting to cascade through China’s vast transportation network.

The Epoch Times spoke to several China-based insiders who requested anonymity or to use only their surnames out of fear of reprisal.

In Qingdao, China, a long-haul truck driver surnamed Liu told The Epoch Times that the market for freight transport was already weak before the latest price increase.

“Gasoline is already around 6.7 yuan per liter (around $3.67 per gallon), and it’s expected to go up again,” Liu said. “The freight market is bad right now. There are too many trucks competing for too little work. When fuel prices rise, our costs jump immediately, but freight rates don’t increase as easily.”

Drivers say the steady rise in fuel costs is further squeezing margins across the logistics industry.

Zhang, a logistics company manager in Guangdong Province, told The Epoch Times that fuel typically accounts for more than 30 percent of transportation costs.

“The Middle East situation pushed fuel prices up suddenly,” he said. “If this continues, some smaller logistics companies may not survive.”

He added that several companies in northeastern China had already begun to suspend operations.

Official data from China’s General Administration of Customs show that the country imported about 578 million tons of crude oil in 2025, a record high, according to Chinese state-controlled media NetEase.

The Chinese think tank CNPC Economics & Technology Research Institute estimated that approximately 70 percent of China’s oil consumption will continue to rely on imports, with a large share coming from the Middle East. China is the world’s largest oil importer.

According to energy analytics firm Kpler, China’s seaborne crude oil imports were reaching an all-time monthly high of 12.5 million barrels per day.

An analysis by global energy researcher J. Kemp Energy estimated that China added roughly 54 million tons of crude oil to its inventories over the past year—equivalent to about 400 million barrels.

The risks intensified after Iran threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil shipping chokepoints.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, roughly one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments pass through the narrow waterway each day.

For China, the surge illustrates how easily geopolitical tensions can quickly ripple into its domestic industries.

A China-based scholar in Chinese current affairs told The Epoch Times that Beijing’s long-standing reliance on energy imports from politically volatile regions leaves the country vulnerable to external shocks.

While China has often secured heavily discounted oil from sanctioned countries like Venezuela and Iran, the scholar said those arrangements have come at the cost of an unstable energy security system.

“Beijing’s energy strategy has often been short-term and opportunistic,” the scholar said. “It ties China’s energy lifeline too closely to an unstable Middle East.”

For truck drivers and logistics workers on the ground, however, the issue is less about geopolitics and more about survival.

“Our business barely survives as it is,” one long-haul driver told The Epoch Times. “Once fuel prices rise, our profits basically disappear. Decisions made at the top about international politics end up being paid for by people like us who drive the trucks.”

The industry insiders say the situation exposes a structural problem in China’s energy system: While massive investments have been made by the regime to secure overseas supply channels, mechanisms to protect domestic industries from global price shocks are limited.