APEC Energy Ministers Meet in Beijing to Tackle Hormuz Supply Shock

Energy ministers from across the Asia-Pacific gathered in Beijing on Thursday for the 16th APEC Energy Ministerial Meeting, seeking common ground on energy security as the fallout from the Strait of Hormuz disruption continues to ripple through global markets.

The meeting, held alongside the 72nd APEC Energy Working Group Meeting, marks the first time the ministerial has convened in the Chinese capital in 12 years. It comes as the region grapples with what the forum describes as the largest oil supply shock on record, with daily shortfalls running into the millions of barrels since navigation through the strait was disrupted in late February 2026.

Addressing the gathering, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said China had drawn on its energy production, supply and marketing system and deepened cooperation with other parties to help protect global energy security. As this year's APEC host, China has positioned the meeting as an open, multilateral platform for economies to exchange practical experience and translate shared ideas into cooperative outcomes.

The strain is being felt well beyond the major economies. Conrad Kumul, a delegate from Papua New Guinea, said the conflict had hit his import-dependent country hard. "From our end in Papua New Guinea, we face the impacts of the war in Iran. We are an import-based economy. It did affect us in a great way," he said on the sidelines of the talks.

For some participants, the crisis has sharpened the case for accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels. Steivan Defilla, president assistant of the APEC Sustainable Energy Center, said the priority now is to push the energy transition forward even more vigorously than before, noting that elevated oil prices have made comparatively cheap renewable sources more attractive.

The APEC Sustainable Energy Center is a high-level international energy think tank led by China's National Energy Administration. China will host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shenzhen, in southern Guangdong Province, in November — its third time staging the event, after Shanghai in 2001 and Beijing in 2014.