China's 'teapot' refinery champion bows out on a high

Singapore

CHINA is on course to become the world's biggest crude oil importer and a determined 70-year-old woman from the country's oil-rich hinterland who battled to save small "teapot" oil refineries can take some of the credit.

Liu Aiying has spent decades fighting against the dominance of powerful Chinese state oil firms to retain a role for teapots, which got their nickname because of their small size and basic equipment.