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China President Xi Expresses Interest in Buying More US Oil, White House Says

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Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed interest in increasing crude oil purchases from the US as China looks to reduce its reliance on Middle Eastern supplies and the Strait of Hormuz, according to a White House statement issued after Xi's bilateral meeting with US President Donald Trump on Thursday.

Shortly after, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC that China buying more US energy was part of the discussion, while adding that the new supply from Alaska was a "natural" choice for the East Asian giant.

However, China has made no mentions of energy purchases in any of the meeting's summaries published by the state media, according to Reuters.

China is the world's largest importer of both crude oil and natural gas, and US is the biggest exporter of both, but the energy trade between the two countries has come to a standstill after China imposed levies on commodities imports, in retaliation to the sweeping US tariffs.

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to' request for a comment on this matter.

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