BEIJING — China reported an increase in its natural gas output in July, official data shows.

The country's natural gas output totaled 15.8 billion cubic meters last month, rising 9.8 percent year-on-year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The volume rose 15.1 percent from July 2019, putting the average growth of the past two years at 7.3 percent.

In the first seven months, China's natural gas output amounted to 120.2 billion cubic meters, increasing 10.7 percent from the same period a year earlier, the NBS said.

Imports of natural gas grew rapidly in July, with the volume jumping 27 percent from a year earlier to 9.34 million metric tons.