US LNG developer Venture Global and China Gas have signed a new Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) covering the supply of 0.5 Mt/year of US LNG from Venture Global over a 20-year period, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2030 (Venture Global press release, 14/09/2026).
According to the company’s press release, “This SPA brings Venture Global’s current long-term offtake with China Gas, to 2.5 Mt/year under 20-year SPAs supplied across Venture Global’s portfolio”. Venture Global is a US LNG producer with more than 100 Mt/year of liquefaction capacity either in operation, under construction, or at various stages of development.
China started importing LNG in 2006 and pipe gas in 2010. According to our data, since 2006, natural gas imports have increased by 32%/year to 173 bcm in 2025 (x11 over 2010-25), with 51% of LNG (compared to 62% in 2019) and 49% of pipe gas. The country became the world’s largest natural gas importer in 2018 and the world’s largest LNG importer in 2023, surpassing Japan.
In 2025, China imported 89 bcm (65 Mt) of LNG (x7 or +14%/year since 2010), a 14% decrease compared to 2024. Australia was the largest LNG supplier (34% in 2024), followed by Qatar (24%) and Russia (11%). China suspended imports of US LNG in March 2025 following the implementation of Beijing's tariffs on US energy products in mid-February 2025.
China has a large portfolio of long-term contracts for LNG imports, with contracted volumes as of 2025 amounting to 150 bcm/year, or around 109 Mt/year, (i.e. almost 90% of total gas imports). However, not all contracted volumes are actually imported into the country, as Chinese traders may resell some of the LNG abroad depending on market demand (Enerdata Global Energy Research).