China's February Gas Imports Up Over 9%

China’s natural gas imports (pipeline and LNG) in February stood at 7.57mn metric tons, up 9.1% year-on-year, according to Chinese customs data published March 8.

However, imports were down month-on-month. In January, China imported a record 9.81mn mt gas, up almost 27% year-on-year.

Cumulative imports during the first two months were 17.35mn mt, up 18.5% compared with the first two months of 2018, the customs data showed.

China’s gas imports have been rising since the start of 2017 as the government aggressively implemented the coal to gas switching programme, especially in the northern part of the country.