China imported 23.05 million metric tons of crude oil in February, equivalent to 6.03 million barrels a day, preliminary data from the General Administration of Customs showed Saturday.

Imports were 11% higher than a year earlier, and down 18.1% from January, according to The Wall Street Journal's calculation.

Refined oil product imports in February totaled 2.41 million tons, the data showed.

China exported 170,000 tons of crude oil in February, according to the preliminary data.