China raises quotas on crude oil imports 18 %

China has issued the first batch of crude oil import quotas for non-state companies at 122.59 million tonnes in 2021, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Monday, up 18% from the first round for 2020.

The increase follows the launch of new refining facilities such as the Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp (ZPC) plant in the eastern port city of Zhoushan. Last month, the ZPC plant started operations at a 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) crude processing unit.

In early November, Beijing had said that it would raise the non-state crude oil imports quota for 2021 by 20% to 243 million tonnes.