MOSCOW, July 23. /TASS/. China increased its gas purchases from Russia by 22.5% in the first half of this year, Vice Premier of China Ding Xuexiang said.

"In the first half of the year, oil and gas imports from Russia increased by 4.8% and 22.5% compared to the same period last year," he said at a meeting of the Russian-Chinese intergovernmental commission on energy cooperation.

In turn, Director of the National Energy Administration Zhang Jianhua noted that the volume of oil supplies from Russia in the first half of the year amounted to 55 mln tons. According to him, in 2023, China imported 107 mln tons of oil from Russia, an increase of 24%. Including pipeline supplies accounted for 40 mln tons, sea supplies - 67 mln tons (an increase of 5%), he added.