BEIJING, August 7. /TASS/. The volume of natural gas imported by China in January-July increased by 12.9%, while oil imports decreased by 2.4%, the General Administration of Customs of China reported.

According to its data, purchases of the specified energy resources for 7 months reached 75.44 mln tons and 317.81 mln tons, respectively. The value of gas imports reached $36.92 bln. Oil supplies to China increased by 2.8% in monetary terms and amounted to $193.33 bln.

In July, gas imports increased by 4% to 10.85 mln tons compared to June and oil imports decreased by 8.8% to 42.33 mln tons. The price of these energy resources purchased abroad by China reached $5.19 bln (+4%) and $25.78 bln (-8.6%), respectively.

Russia is the leading exporter of energy resources to China. In 2023, China purchased 107 mln tons of oil (+24%) and 8 mln tons of liquefied natural gas (+23%) from Russia. Deliveries through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline increased 1.5-fold to a record 22.7 bln cubic meters.

According to the Customs calculations, in 2023 China increased oil imports by 11% to 563.99 mln tons and gas imports - by 9.9% to 119.97 mln tons. The cost of these energy resources reached $337.49 bln (-7.7%) and $64.34 bln (-8.1%), respectively.