A smoking chimney is seen at a PetroChina oil factory in Dalian, Liaoning province January 20, 2015. Reuters China – which gets 60% of its oil from abroad — is on its way to becoming the world’s largest petroleum importer , and is already there by some measures . So in theory it stands to be a huge beneficiary of plummeting oil prices. However, as The Wall Street Journal reports, the benefits of cheap oil for several major economies are far less clear , as governments from Europe to Japan battle fears that falling prices—in part a result of cheap energy—will deter spending by consumers and new investment by companies. In China, cheap oil hasn’t been nearly the boon many may have thought. That is the result of several factors. Advertisement The government controls prices, meaning the drops for Chinese businesses and consumers lag those of international oil markets. […]