Liquefied natural gas imports into China reached 1.7 million tonnes in March, according to the General Administration of Customs data.
March LNG imports by the world’s largest energy consumer rose 27 percent as compared to the same month a year ago.
China’s imports of piped natural gas increased 38 percent to 2.72 million tonnes when compared to the year before, the data showed.
The country’s LNG imports have grown steadily in the last 10 years, from 0.1 Bcf/d in 2006 to 1.3 Bcf/d in 2010, and have more than doubled since then, according to the U.S. EIA.
They reached their peak in 2014 at 2.7 Bcf/d, making China the third-largest LNG importer globally after Japan and South Korea.
In 2015, however, LNG imports declined to 2.6 Bcf/d, reflecting in part a slowdown in the growth of the Chinese economy and lower prices of competing fuels, EIA said.