China is slowly but surely getting back to pre-crisis levels in many sectors of the economy. Recently, the country has significantly increased the volume of hydrocarbon output for the first time since the coronavirus outbreak.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, in May, oil production in China grew by 1.3% to 16.46 million tons. The figure exceeded the one set in May last year. China's oil imports rose by 19.2% and reached 47.97 million tons.

In May, the volume of oil refining surged by 8.2% to 57.9 million tons. From January to May this year, the volume of crude oil output increased by 1.9% to 80.9 million tons, while oil refining dropped by 1% to 261.39 million tons.

Additionally, in May, natural gas production soared by 12.7% to 15.9 billion cubic meters, a report from the National Bureau of Statistics unveiled. Since the beginning of 2020, the figure has reached an impressive 78.8 billion cubic meters, which is 10.1% higher than the volume of gas production in China in January-May last year. Natural gas imports also rose by 3.7% to 7.84 billion cubic meters.