CHINA'S natural gas imports surged 86.5 percent in the first 10 months of this year while production continued to climb steadily.

Purchases totaled 25 billion cubic meters - 12.3 billion cubic meters of piped gas and 12.7 billion cubic meters of liquified natural gas - between January and October, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

It said in October alone, imports doubled to 3.1 billion cubic meters. A total of 82.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas, meanwhile, was produced nationwide during the 10-month period, an annual increase of 6.6 percent.

Last month, production rose 3.1 percent from a year earlier to 8.2 billion cubic meters.

Apparent consumption of natural gas jumped 20.4 percent year-on-year to 104.1 billion cubic meters during the first 10 months, with demand from fertilizer producers and power plants in the provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang remaining high.