BEIJING, Jan. 24 -- China's natural gas output logged steady growth in December 2022, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

The country produced 20.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas in December, up 6.5 percent from a year earlier, according to the bureau.

The growth rate was 2.1 percentage points lower than that of November, the bureau said.

In 2022, China's natural gas output rose 6.4 percent year on year to 217.8 billion cubic meters. The country imported 109.25 million tonnes of natural gas in the same period, down 9.9 percent year on year.