However, the Chinese government is apparently not going to give up without a fight.

An official from the ministry has confirmed that all fuel oil importing companies will need to register with the ministry and that "both state-owned and privately-owned companies can register with the ministry, but approval will be based on the registering company's business track record over the last three years."

Furthermore, industry players in China believe that the government would not be abolishing the criteria by which all trading houses that import fuel have to adhere to. Some of these stipulations include having ownership of a port that can handle up to 10,000 metric tonnes of oil and an oil storage depot that can store a minimum 50,000 tonnes of oil.

Currently, all fuel oil imports are strictly controlled via a quota system.