This study develops a conceptual framework that synthesizes the supply, demand, price, and openness,of crude oil trade, along with a list of traditional economic, political, and geographical factors to investigate the determinants of crude oil imports in emerging markets. We test the framework using China's crude oil imports from 55 countries for the period from 1992 to 2015. Using both static and dynamic panel data models, we find that China's crude oil import is associated with exporting country's supply, demand, and price as well as its bilateral trade relationships. These factors were found to affect China's import of crude oil from the Middle East. However, only bilateral trade relationships affect its imports of crude oil from the Asia-Pacific. Furthermore, we do not find substantial evidence in this research to indicate that China's direct investment increases crude oil imports from those countries.