China's crude oil imports jumped 25 percent in March to a record as state-controlled refiners increased fuel production to end shortages in the fastest- growing major economy.

Imports rose to 17.3 million metric tons, about 4.1 million barrels a day, the Customs General Administration of China said on its Web site today, compared with 13.86 million tons a year earlier. The nation exported 400,000 tons.

China Petrochemical Corp. and China National Petroleum Corp. are running their refineries at full capacity to bolster gasoline and diesel supplies. The worst snowstorms in five decades disrupted fuel distribution in January and February. Shortages deepened as factories re-opened after the weeklong Lunar New Year holidays and increased their production.

``The record imports show especially strong demand from state oil companies who are boosting crude processing to end the domestic supply shortfall,'' Jason Wu, an oil analyst with China International Futures (Shanghai) Co., said by telephone from Shanghai today.

Crude imports rose 15 percent to 45.53 million tons in the first three months, with the cost increasing 91 percent to $30 billion. The March oil import bill reached $11.7 billion as international crude prices climbed. China exported 580,000 tons of oil in the quarter.

U.S., Japan

China's oil imports are the third-highest in the world, trailing only the U.S., which bought about 10 million barrels a day last year, and Japan, which shipped in about 4.8 million barrels a day in February.

Oil-product imports rose 14 percent to 9.08 million tons in the first three months as refiners strained to end fuel shortages. They reached 3.13 million tons last month. Exports of oil products fell 5.6 percent to 3.61 million tons in the quarter and were 1.19 million tons last month.

China Petrochemical, known as Sinopec Group and China National Petroleum, the country's two largest oil refiners, will run their refineries at full capacity to increase oil-product supplies disrupted by the snowstorms, the National Development and Reform Commission said Feb. 20.

China shut 7 percent of its coal-fired power plants in January after the heaviest snowstorms since 1954 paralyzed power grids and delayed deliveries of the fuel.

`Indefinite' Shortages

Shortages of gasoline and diesel may continue ``indefinitely'' as independent refiners reduce output to avoid refining losses caused by record crude prices, Sinopec Group Deputy President Zhang Jianhua said April 9.

Government caps on fuel prices prevent oil companies from passing on rising raw material costs to customers, discouraging refineries not controlled by the state from making products for sale at below cost.

Benchmark New York crude oil prices, up 77 percent from a year ago, reached a record $112.21 a barrel on April 9.

Coal exports fell 11 percent to 10.2 million tons in the first three months and were 1.45 million tons last month, customs said, without giving coal import figures.

China's previous record for oil imports was 14.83 million tons, set in July 2007. This month's 25 percent gain is the biggest since then.