OREANDA-NEWS. February 21, 2013. China imported 25.15 million metric tons of crude oil in January, equivalent to 5.95 million barrels a day, preliminary data from the General Administration of Customs.

The tally for the month was 7.4% higher than the 23.41 million tons of crude imported in the same month a year earlier, the administration said.

January's imports were also 6.3% higher than December's 23.67 million tons, according to a Dow Jones Newswires' calculation.

Refined oil product imports totaled 3.91 million tons in January, up 32.7% from a year earlier, while exports totaled 2.43 million tons, up 30.4%, the data showed.

China exported 280,000 tons of crude oil in January, according to the preliminary data.