BEIJING — China saw faster growth of natural gas production in 2019, official data showed.

The country produced some 177.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2019, up 11.5 percent year-on-year, data from the country's top economic planner showed.

In 2018, natural gas output expanded 7.5 percent year-on-year to reach about 161.02 billion cubic meters.

Natural gas imports rose 6.5 percent over 2018 to a total of 132.2 billion cubic meters last year.

Last year's apparent consumption of natural gas stood at 306.7 billion cubic meters, up 9.4 percent year-on-year.

Consumption of natural gas is estimated to expand 8.6 percent to 330 billion cubic meters in 2020 amid the country's efforts to tackle air pollution, said PetroChina, China's largest oil and gas producer.