China's crude oil imports rose 9.4% on year to 26.35 million mt in October, or 6.23 million b/d, preliminary data released by the General Administration of Customs Sunday showed.

The October imports were 8.8% lower from September's 6.829 million b/d.

China's crude imports in the first 10 months rose 8.9% on year to 274.97 million mt, averaging 6.63 million b/d, down slightly from a rise of 9.2% seen for the year-ago period.

China skipped crude exports in October as it had done in October 2014.Total crude exports of 2.29 million mt over January-October were 536.5% higher than the year-ago period. In the first 10 months of the year, net crude imports reached 272.68 million mt, averaging 6.57 million b/d, up 8.1% on year.