China’s gas imports rose 9.9 percent in 2023

China’s natural gas imports, including pipeline gas and LNG, increased 9.9 percent in 2023, according to customs data.

Natural gas imports during the January-December period reached about 119.97 million tonnes, the data from the General Administration of Customs shows.

China paid about $64.3 billion for gas imports in this period, a drop of 8.1 percent compared to the year before.

Moreover, the country’s gas imports reached 12.64 million tonnes in December last year, a rise from about 10.95 million tonnes in November as demand in China increased due to winter heating season.

There is currently no official data for LNG imports in December.

China has overtaken Japan as the world’s largest LNG importer last year.

China imported 62.99 million tonnes of LNG during January-November, up by 10.9 percent compared to the same period in the previous year, and up by about 3.14 million tonnes compared to Japan’s volumes.

However, Chinese LNG imports fell in 2022 to due to very high spot LNG prices and Covid lockdowns, which affected economic activity.

China’s LNG imports dropped compared to the January-November period in 2021 when China imported 71.36 million tonnes of LNG.