Bangladesh, Sept. 10 -- By choosing reserves, efficiency and flexibility over an oil-buying frenzy, China has emerged as an unexpected stabilizer of global energy markets

When geopolitical conflict erupts in an oil-producing region, the script is usually familiar. Markets panic, importers rush to secure supplies, traders bid up crude prices, and consumers around the world eventually pay the bill through higher fuel, transport and food costs.

Yet the latest disruption in the Middle East has produced a strikingly different outcome. Instead of joining a global scramble for crude, China has substantially reduced its oil imports and consumption. That decision, highlighted in an international energy-analysis video titled “China quietly ...