China's crude oil imports fell 9.0 percent in July from a year earlier to 23.76 million tons, or 5.62 million barrels a day (bpd), government data showed on Friday.
But imports rose 2.1 percent from 23.28 million tons (5.69 million bpd) in June, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs. Crude oil imports in the January-July period went up 7.2 percent from the same period of 2013 to 6.08 million bpd.
Last month, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said China, the world's second-biggest oil consumer, will see oil demand growing 4.2 percent in 2015, up from 3.3 percent this year.