China imported 280 million tons of iron ore and 130 million tons of crude oil in 2005, up 32.3 percent and 3.3 percent respectively.

China's import trade was US$660.12 billion in the year 2005, up 17.6 percent, according to latest statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics.

The growth of the import of primary products was lowered along with slower-paced industrial products import.

A slight increase was seen in the country's crude oil import while that of automobile and steel has been not as much as before.

Customs figures show last year, the volume of China's import of primary products hit US$147.71 billion with an increase of 26 percent. Its share in the year��s total imports was 19.4 percent last year, 1.5 percentage points down from one year earlier.

By People's Daily Online