Since August last year, the United States has imposed sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports, threatening to sanction all companies and countries that do business with Venezuela. China’s oil imports from Venezuela have never stopped. Between July and December last year, 18 tankers delivered a total of 19.7 million barrels of transferred Venezuelan crude oil to Chinese ports.

The U.S. State Department’s Special Representative for Venezuela, Elliott Abrams, told Reuters that the United States is planning to deepen sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports. After the transfer, Chinese buyers of Venezuelan oil will be put on the table.