China imported 95.80 million tons of crude oil in the first eight months, up 15.3 percent over the same period of last year, according to sources with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Xinhua News Agency reported today.

Data released by NDRC's bureau of economic operations show that China produced 122.93 million tons of crude oil in the first eight months with a year-on-year growth of 1.8 percent.

A total of 199.15 million tons of crude oil were refined in the first eight months, up 5.7 percent from a year ago. The output of gasoline rose 3.8 percent and diesel oil, 5.7 percent.

China produced 1.31 billion tons of coal in the first eight months, up 12.1 percent from the same period of last year. The export volume of coal dropped by 13.3 percent to 42.26 million tons.

The coal industry saw its profits rise by 12.3 percent year-on-year to 39.2 billion yuan (US$4.9 billion) in the first eight months.

China generated electricity of 1,783.3 billion kilowatt-hours in the first eight months with a year-on-year growth of 12.7 percent. Production of coal-based electricity rose by 13.8 percent and hydropower, 8.8 percent.

The profits of the electricity industry surged 36.1 percent to 77.6 billion yuan (US$9.8 billion) in the first eight months.

(Xinhua News Agency October 6, 2006)