From Bloomberg News via the International Herald Tribune (link)
China, the No. 2 oil consumer after the United States, cut imports of the fuel in April as rising global prices discouraged the country’s refiners from ordering shipments.
Imports fell 1.8 percent from a year earlier to 12 million metric tons, or 88 million barrels, the Beijing-based Customs General Administration of China said on its Web site Friday.
Nevertheless, the bill for imports rose 17 percent to $5.4 billion.