China imported 19.43-mil mt of crude in July, hitting a new low in 2011, according to the data from the General Administration of Customs.

This volume was down by 1.37% from the previous month, but it climbed by 2.26% from a year ago.

Chinese oil majors reduced crude imports in the month because of converging refinery maintenance in the third quarter, including the turnaround of 10-mil mt/yr refining capacity in Qingdao refinery, C1 found. In addition, high crude prices and lingering refining losses also dampened PetroChina's and Sinopec's interest in crude imports.

The country's crude imports in the first seven months of 2011 amounted to 145.64-mil mt, up by 6.34% year on year, the GAC data indicated.