BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China's crude oil output saw steady expansion by rising 4.4 percent year on year in the first quarter, official data showed.
The output totaled 51.19 million tonnes from January to March, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Meanwhile, crude oil imports further declined during the period. As one of the world's largest oil buyers, China imported 127.85 million tonnes of crude oil, down 8.1 percent from a year earlier.
In March alone, China's crude oil output went up 3.9 percent year on year to 17.71 million tonnes, while crude oil imports fell 14 percent to 42.71 million tonnes, NBS data showed.
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