BEIJING — China saw a rapid increase in its natural gas output in the first 11 months of the year, official data showed.

The country's natural gas output totaled 186 billion cubic meters during the January-November period, up 8.9 percent from a year ago and 19 percent from the 2019 level, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In November alone, China reported 17.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas production, up 4.4 percent year-on-year.

During the first 11 months, China imported a total of 109.76 million tons of natural gas, soaring 21.8 percent year-on-year, NBS data showed.