Natural gas imports reached 8.18 million tonnes last month, the data from the General Administration of Customs shows.
This compares to approximately 9.15 million tonnes in March 2025.
The world’s largest LNG importer paid about $3.21 billion for gas imports last month.
China’s gas imports reached 28.14 million tonnes in the first three months of this year, down 4 percent compared to the same period in 2025.
The country paid $13.85 billion for these imports, down 16 percent year-on-year.
Official data on LNG imports for March this year has not yet been released.
As previously published by LNG Prime, China reported a 0.1 percent rise in LNG imports in January-February this year.
China received 10.53 million tonnes during the two months.
In January, Chinese LNG terminals received 6.67 million tonnes, a rise of 10.5 percent year-on-year, while February LNG imports dropped 13.9 percent year-on-year to 3.86 million tonnes.
China has been affected by the ongoing crisis in the Middle East and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, but not as much as India, Bangladesh, or other Asian countries.
According to several reports, China has been reloading LNG volumes in March and April and sending them to other Asian countries as prices soared amid the Middle East conflict.

