BEIJING, April 20 -- China's crude oil output posted steady growth in the first three months of this year, official data showed.

The output totaled 53.48 million tonnes in the January-March period, rising 2.3 percent year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

During the same period, China imported 137.36 million tonnes of crude oil, edging up 0.7 percent year on year, according to the data.