URUMQI - China saw a rise in crude oil imports from Kazakhstan last year via a transnational pipeline to the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Oil imports hit a record high of 11.85 million tons in 2013 through the China-Kazakhstan Pipeline, up 14.09 percent year on year, according to the regional government.

The growing imports underscore the key role of the pipeline in China's overland energy import networks, said Dilber, an official with the Xinjiang Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau.

The pipeline runs 1,200 kilometers from the city of Atasu in Kazakhstan to the PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical Company, one of China's major petrochemical producers, after entering northwest China at Alataw Pass.

So far, China has imported 63.62 million tons of crude oil through the pipeline, mainly for State-owned enterprises in Xinjiang and Beijing, since it became operational in 2006.

To increase oil imports, China simplified inspection procedures, including opening a 24-hour examination service, said Dilber.