Customs data show China's crude oil imports from the Islamic Republic of Iran increased by 19 percent in October compared to the previous month, despite the illegal US-engineered sanctions against Iran.

Asia's biggest economy imported 458,000 barrels per day on average from Iran last month, the highest level since June, the Financial Post reported on Friday.

China's purchase of Iranian oil also accounted for 8.2 percent of its total crude imports in October.

An initial interpretation of a Purchasing Managers' Index compiled by HSBC Holdings suggests that Chinese manufacturing is in an accelerated expansion after recovering from a 13-month-low in November.

The signs of improvement in the country's manufacturing industry underline China's need for oil to keep its refineries running.

"In China, most of the new processing capacity that's set to come online is designed to use medium-sour crudes, the kind Iran supplies," Jit Yang Lim, a senior expert at the independent energy consultancy KBC Advanced Technologies, told the Financial Post on Thursday.

In defiance of the West's sanctions against Iran, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said on June 29 that purchases of Iranian crude are "completely justified and legitimate."

In October, Iranian Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi denied reports claiming that the country's oil production and exports have fallen to about 2.7 million barrels per day, adding that Iran is still producing 4 million barrels per day.

"Despite the pressure by the West to prevent the sale of Iranian crude oil, the country is currently producing oil at maximum capacity," the Iranian oil minister said.

At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of Iran.

The sanctions came into force in early summer 2012.

On October 15, the EU foreign ministers reached an agreement on another round of sanctions against Iran.

The illegal US-engineered sanctions were imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.

Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition, the IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities but has never found any evidence showing that Iran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.

Iran is currently China's third largest supplier of crude, providing Beijing with roughly 12 percent of its total annual oil consumption.