Slump in oil prices fuels increase in country's crude imports

The country's reliance on imported oil soared to over 60 percent last year, amid tumbling oil prices and steadily-growing domestic energy demand, a new report said on Tuesday.

China imported 328 million tons of oil, up 6.4 percent, accounting for 60.6 percent of China's total oil consumption in 2015. Oil consumption rose 4.4 percent to 534 million tons during the same period, said a report released by the Economics & Technology Research Institute of China National Petroleum Corporation.

According to the report, reliance on foreign crude will increase to 62 percent this year with total imports estimated at about 357 million tons. Crude demand will rise by 4.3 percent to 566 million tons during the same period.