BEIJING — China's output of natural gas increased by 6.7 percent year-on-year in the first two months of the year, official data showed.

From January to February, the country's total natural gas output reached 37.2 billion cubic meters, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The growth rate was 4.4 percentage points higher than that in December 2021, the NBS said.

The country had imported less natural gas in the period, which went down 3.8 percent from a year earlier to 19.86 million tons, the data showed.