Global Markets: China to overtake Japan as world’s largest natural gas importer

As China continues to swap out coal for natural gas, its demand for gas is rising sharply. That likely means that China will claim the mantle of the world’s largest importer of natural gas this year, surpassing Japan.

Japan will still be the largest importer of LNG, but China’s combined imports of LNG and pipeline gas will make it the world’s largest importer. China is already the largest importer of coal and oil, but gas is increasingly central to the country’s energy plans.