China's net imports of crude oil in the first eight months rose 18.1 percent from the same period last year to 108.2 million tons, according to latest customs figures.

From January to August, China imported 110.4 million tons of crude oil and exported 2.18 million tons, said the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

Domestic output of crude oil reached 124.7 million tons in the period, up 1.3 percent year on year, which was 0.4 percentage points lower than the rise for the whole of last year.

Meanwhile, the country's imports of refined oil reached 24.28 million tons, exceeding exports by 14 million tons, compared with a gap of 17.5 million tons in the same period of last year.

In the first eight months, China produced 39.9 million tons of gasoline, up 8.8 percent, 7.68 million tons of kerosene, up 17.5 percent and 81.5 million tons of diesel oil, up 6.3 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2007)