The China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (CPCIA) said "apparent consumption" of refined products gasoline, diesel and kerosene  rose 14.6 per cent year-on-year to 106 million tones, while crude oil use increased 6.3 per cent to 183.3 million tonnes.

"Apparent consumption" represents the sum of net imports and output and can be used as a "proxy" for real consumption excluding inventory.

The CPCIA said that apparent consumption of gasoline increased by 16.2 per cent, diesel by 14.7 per cent and kerosene by 6.66 per cent, with the increase attributed to the expanding economy and booming auto demand.

Reconstruction after the severe winter storm, the worst in five decades, early this year and the devastating earthquake of May 12 in southwest China that killed nearly

70,000 people and displaced millions while ravaging the infrastructure, also fuelled consumption, Zhu Fang, a CPCIA researcher was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.

State regulated prices caused an "abnormal" consumption rise through hoarding and smuggling of refined products abroad, Zhu said.

China's economy expanded at 10.4 per cent in the first half of 2008 as the growth eased over the same period last year impacted by the global economic slowdown and weakening exports.

The growth rate was 1.8 percentage points lower over the January-June period of last year but the worlds fourth largest economy still posted a double digit growth which it has been doing since 2003.

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