To Zhang Goufa, the deputy director of the water transport department at the Ministry of Transport, the magic number it wants is a fleet capable of transporting 50 million metric tonnes.

"China's current crude shipping capacity falls short of meeting its increasing reliance on crude imports," said Zhang.

Only 15% of China's crude imports are transported by domestic firms like China Ocean Shipping Group Co and China Shipping Development Co. With imports reaching 80 million tonnes this year (with independent estimates saying imports could reach 100 million tonnes by 2005), the need is a pretty obvious one.

Zhang outlined a few strategies that are currently being considered by the Chinese government. One way mentioned was to build more ships.

"The government will provide preferential financial policies to domestic shipbuilders, such as interest-free loans, to facilitate the implementation of [this] plan," said Zhang. Another plan outlined was to have Sinopec and PetroChina sign long term contracts with domestic shipping companies.

The 50 million tonnes is merely a starting point. According to Zhang, "The government will further expand China's crude shipping capacity to 75 million tons by 2010 and to 130 million tons by 2020."