China's crude oil output rises slightly

 BEIJING, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's crude oil production increased only 0.6 percent year on year to 17.24 million metric tons in July as the current economic slowdown dampened fuel demand in the country, according to data released by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) on Monday.

Chinese oil producers refined 34.16 million metric tons of crude oil, up 1.5 percent year on year, but oil product output increased 4 percent from a year earlier to 21.46 million metric tons, said the NDRC, China's top economic planner.

Meanwhile, the country's consumption of refined oil grew 4.4 percent to 21.86 million metric tons.

The pickup¹ in July failed to make up for a decline in China's domestic crude oil production during the first half of this year, underlying² the country's increasing dependence³ on imports to meet its domestic demand, according to the NDRC data.

The country's crude oil production in the January-July period reached 117.35 million metric tons, down 1.3 percent year on year. Its crude oil imports grew 10.2 percent to 161.9 million metric tons in the first seven months, showed customs data.

1 pickup   

n.拾起，获得

参考例句：

• I would love to trade this car for a pickup truck.我愿意用这辆汽车换一辆小型轻便卡车。||The luck guy is a choice pickup for the girls.那位幸运的男孩是女孩子们想勾搭上的人。

2 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

3 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。