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Coronavirus: China oil titan warns of gathering ‘black swan’ risks for Beijing after pandemic

  • Fu Chengyu, the former chairman of China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), says hostility towards Beijing will increase after the coronavirus
  • US will try to ‘thwart China’s rise’ and economic fallout from Covid-19 will be worse than the global financial crisis, says Fu

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Former Sinopec chairman Fu Chengyu says China will face a more hostile world post coronavirus. Photo: EPA

The world is set to become more hostile for China after the coronavirus as the risk of “black swan” events gathers for Beijing, a heavyweight in China’s state oil industry has warned, reflecting growing wariness about the geopolitical environment among political and business elites.

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Fu Chengyu, the former chairman of both China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Sinopec Group, painted an ominous picture of increasing antagonism from the United States and damaging unforeseen events, known as black swans, like Covid-19 at an online symposium organised by business magazine Caijing.

The US would “mercilessly” suppress China in the fields of economics, trade, finance and technology, and Washington was set on taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic to “forge a less favourable international environment for” the nation, Fu said this week.

“We’ve smelled the odours and new plots against China are in formation,” he said.

After the epidemic, the external environment for our survival will be more severe
Fu Chengyu

“After the epidemic, the external environment for our survival will be more severe … we must prepare for the worst and do our best to achieve the best possible results.”

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While Fu has retired from his posts at state companies, he is an influential voice in China’s oil industry with decades of experience and contacts in the US petroleum sector.
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