Statistics released Thursday by the Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) said that China increased its imports last year of many mineral products to meet domestic demand such as iron ore, copper ore and potash fertilizer.

As the average import duty for mineral products was slashed to 9.03 percent in 2001, home market demand was guaranteed by greater imports.

To rise to the challenge of the country's access to the World Trade Organization, the domestic mineral industry had made great efforts to explore international cooperation, said the communique.

In 2001 alone, a total of 149 oil contracts and agreements have been signed between the China National Offshore Oil Corporation and 70 counterparts in 18 countries and regions and over US$6 billion of foreign investment have been used.

The China National Petroleum Corporation and the China National Petrochemical Corporation also teamed up with overseas oil companies to jointly launch projects on the improvement of exploitation efficiency.

In 2001, the Chinese government issued 80 exploitation licenses and 48 mining licenses to foreign businesses.

Although Chinese oil companies' share in the world market is still small, domestic oil conglomerates had begun to increase their global presence, said the communique.

To date, the China National Petroleum Corporation had produced 14 million tons of crude oil and 800 million cubic meters of natural gas abroad.

(Xinhua News Agency April 12, 2002)