China increased oil and gas imports in January-October

By Rhod Mackenzie

During January-October 2023, China experienced a 14.5% surge in oil imports and an 8.8% increase in natural gas imports, as per the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China's Tuesday report.
During the reported period, China imported 473.21 million tonnes of oil, at a cost of $280 billion for the purchase of crude oil overseas, which is 7.7% less than the same period in 2022. In October alone, China purchased 48.9 million tonnes of oil from overseas for $32.3 billion.

Between January and October 2023, the volume of natural gas imports totalled 96.5 million tonnes with a worth of $51.1 billion (in price terms, there was a decrease of 7.3%). In October, China bought 8.78 million tonnes of natural gas from abroad for £4.26 billion.

Furthermore, coal imports accumulated to 383.6 million tonnes, reflecting an increase of 66.8% in the first ten months of 2023, costing China £43.2 billion (in price terms - an increase of 26.7%). To add, China acquired 35.9 million tonnes of coal in October from overseas for £3.53 billion.