BEIJING - China's April crude oil inventory rose 2.3 percent from March, but stocks of refined petroleum products dipped 2.9 percent month-on-month, according to data released by Xinhua's financial information branch, Xinhua 08, on Friday.

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Of the refined oil products inventory, gasoline stocks fell 2 percent, diesel dropped 3.4 percent and kerosene declined 4 percent month-on-month.

China's crude oil output reached 16.96 million tons in April, 610,00 tons less than in March, following monthly declines in net imports and refined volumes, according to Xinhua analysts.

China imported 21.54 million tons of crude oil in April, down 130,000 tons from March. Chinese imported refined products slumped 17.1 percent in April from the previous month, according to the Customs figures.

Regarding exports, China exported 290,000 tons of crude oil in April, down 14.7 percent month-on-month, while refined oil product exports fell 20.5 percent from March to 2.05 million tons, according to the Customs figures.