BEIJING — China secured a bumper summer harvest of oil crops this year, with an uptick both in rapeseed output and procurement prices, the National Food and Strategic Reserves Administration said on July 5.

By June 30, the country had purchased 660,000 tons of rapeseed, an increase of 320,000 metric tons year-on-year. The procurement prices of the oil crop ranged from 6 yuan (about $0.9) to 7.2 yuan per kilo, 0.8-1.8 yuan higher than last year.

China has stepped up efforts to advance the expansion of oil crop planting to wean itself off imports. Currently, China's dependency ratio on edible vegetable oil imports is 70 percent.

As the major cooking oil, rapeseed oil accounts for half of the domestic oil consumption and plays a core role in ensuring the security of the edible oil supply.

China's rapeseed output will likely reach 14.95 million tons in 2022/23, and rapeseed imports are expected to be 2.8 million tons, according to the China National Grain and Oils Information Center.