China increased oil imports by 9.5% in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same period in 2020,
Meanwhile, the country increased natural gas imports by 19.6%, while coal imports decreased by 28.5%.
China imported 139.2 million tons of oil from January through March this year. In terms of monetary value, the purchase of crude oil from overseas cost China $56.6 billion, 3.9% down from the first quarter of last year.
In March, China imported 49.65 million tons of oil for $22.21 billion.
Imports of natural gas to China in the first quarter of this year amounted to 29.38 million tons worth $10.3 billion (an increase of 7.3% in price compared to January-March 2020).
In March, China imported 8.7 million tons of natural gas worth $3.05 billion.
Besides, in the first three months of 2021, China imported 68.4 million tons of coal worth $4.8 billion (in price terms, a decrease of 31.7% compared to January-March last year).