Some Chinese automakers are disproportionately exposed to the escalating conflict in Iran due to their reliance on Middle East exports — a region that Western rivals largely abandoned years ago under sanctions, according to the equity research firm Bernstein.

 

The Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil supply passes daily, has been brought to a near standstill as the war — now in its seventh day — spreads across the Middle East and disrupts energy production.