China’s natural gas imports hit a record high for January, increasing 26.8% year-on-year to 9.81 million tonnes, the General Administration of Customs said on Thursday.

Last year, China’s natural gas consumption ballooned by 16.6% to 276.6 billion cubic meters (9.77 trillion cubic feet), with imported gas making up the lion’s share of growth as demand races ahead of domestic production.

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