According to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), China became the world's second largest LNG importer in 2017, overtaking South Korea. The country's imports averaged 5 bcf/d during the year (141 mcm/d), exceeded only by the Japanese imports of 11 bcf/d (311 mcm/d). Chinese LNG imports soared by 46% in 2017 (+1.6 bcf/d) and even reached 7.8 bcf/d (220 mcm/d) in December 2017.
The country is implementing policies to progressively phase out coal-fired electricity generation and to replace coal with gas for residential heating. The domestic gas storage capacity is relatively limited and estimated at just 3% of the total natural gas consumption. The seasonal peak demand is met mostly with LNG imports or by pipeline shipments from Central Asia. 40% of the 2017 natural gas supply was met with imports and LNG made up approximately half of them.
China is also the largest importer of coal and oil and is expected to overtake Japan as the world's largest importer of natural gas in 2018. However, Japan is expected to remain the largest importer of LNG until 2028 even if Chinese LNG imports are likely to rise significantly in the next few years.