BEIJING: China's Commerce Ministry said on Saturday it will issue 202 million tonnes of crude oil import quotas for "non-state trade", generally meaning independent refiners, marking a 42-percent rise from this year's levels.
It is the second consecutive year that Beijing has increased the quota, which is equivalent to 4.04 million barrels per day (bpd).
The ministry said in a statement companies must submit their applications for the quotas by Nov. 10.
The ministry did not provide a detailed breakdown of quota recipients, but they should include mostly independent refiners, which make up around two-thirds of the total.
The rise comes as at least two private refiners, Hengli Group and Zhejiang Petrochemical, prepare to launch commercial production of two new large plants.