Oil security has become a major issue in China. This paper analyzes China's oil security from the supply chain perspective, as the country faces challenges from an increasing reliance on imported oil, a fastgrowing economy, the Malacca dilemma, and volatile international oil prices. To clarify the issue of oil security, we first review the development phase of China's oil industry and previous research related to its energy security. Then a framework from the supply chain perspective is constructed to identify the current risk from three aspects: energy flow, financial and environmental. Finally, policies aimed at improving the country's energy security are examined and potential problems presented. From this analysis, we conclude that the potential risk arising from China's oil system is inherently interconnected. There is still great potential for the country to improve oil security by strengthening its strategic oil reserves, improving energy efficiency, and developing its domestic oil tanker fleet. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.