BEIJING, September 8. /TASS/. China imported 376.04 mln tons of oil and 81.91 mln tons of gas in January-August, the General Administration of Customs of China reported.

According to figures released, in physical terms oil supplies were 2.5% higher than in the same period in 2024, while gas deliveries were 5.9% lower than in the same period last year. In value terms imports went down by 11.7% to $196.98 bln and by 13.5% to $36.98 bln, respectively.

According to the published statistics, in August China increased oil imports by 4.8% compared to July to 49.49 mln tons. The volume of gas purchases also increased - by 11.4% to 11.85 mln tons.

Russia is the leading exporter of energy resources to China. In 2024, China purchased 108.47 mln tons of oil from Russia (up by 1.3%), and 8.3 mln tons of liquefied natural gas (up by 3.3%). Deliveries via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline amounted to about 31 bln cubic meters (up by 36.5%).

During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to China the parties signed an agreement on the annual supply of 106 bln cubic meters of Russian gas to China.

In 2024, China reduced oil imports by 1.9% (to 553.41 mln tons), but increased gas purchases by 9.9% (to 131.69 mln tons). The total value of imports of those energy resources for 12 months amounted to $324.79 bln (down by 3.9%), and $65.16 bln (up by 1.2%), respectively.