The general contract has been signed for the construction of two further Russian-supplied reactors at the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu province. In addition, a technical design contract was signed for a second pair of reactors at the Xudabao site in Liaoning province.

PLATTS - China's crude imports from Venezuela surged 50.7% month on month to 411,000 b/d or 1.74 million mt in January, posting the fifth month in a row of increase after hitting a four-year low last September, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed

REUTERS - China’s liquefied natural gas imports in January rose to a record as an increase in residential heating demand during the winter after the country’s shift to gas heating spurred higher shipments, customs data showed on Saturday.

OGJ - Saudi Aramco has signed a $10-billion agreement to form a joint venture with China North Industries Group Corp. (Norinco) and Panjin Sincen to develop a fully integrated, grassroots refining and petrochemical complex in Panjin, in China’s Liaoning province.

GAZPROM - As Alexey Miller said after the negotiations, “Construction of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline is going ahead of schedule, and Gazprom will start delivering gas to China well in advance, as early as December 1, 2019.”

PLATTS - US-based Anadarko Petroleum has agreed to sell 1.5 million mt/year of LNG from its planned 12.9 million mt/year Mozambique LNG project to China's CNOOC for a period of 13 years.

PLATTS - China consumed 280.30 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2018, up 18.1% year on year, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its website late Thursday. The natural gas consumption growth in 2018 outpaced the growth rate of 15.3% in 2017 and 6.6% in 2016, respectively, according to the NDRC's historical data, implying China's increasing demand for natural gas.

REUTERS - China has lent over $50 billion to Venezuela through oil-for-loan agreements over the past decade, securing energy supplies for its fast-growing economy.

REUTERS - Total capacity - including hydro and biomass as well as solar and wind - rose to 728 gigawatts (GW) by end-2018, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said during a briefing. That amounted to 38.3 percent of China’s total installed power capacity, up 1.7 percentage points on the year and around 7 percentage points higher than at the end of 2015.

REUTERS - Oil imports from Russia reached 7.04 million tons, or 1.658 million barrels per day, in December, up 40 percent from 5.03 million tons a year earlier, according to the data from the General Administration of Customs. For the full year, Russian oil imports rose to 71.49 million tons, or 1.43 million bpd, up 19.7 percent from 59.7 million tons in 2017.