BEIJING, May 9 Reuters China39;s crude oil imports rose on the previous year in April, as refiners prepared for a fully recovered Labour Day holiday travel season, official data showed on Thursday.

Crude imports in April totalled 44.72 million metric tons, or about 10.88 million barrels per day bpd, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.

That represented a 5.45 increase from the relatively low 10.4 million bpd imported in April 2023.

China saw more than 1.3 billion passenger trips over the five day Labour Day holiday that began on May 1, up 2.1 from a year earlier, state media outlet Xinhua reported.

Highway traffic was up 2.1 while air trips surged 8.1, Xinhua said.

Domestic airline seat capacity in April was up 1.3 on last year, data from consultancy OAG showed.

China39;s manufacturing sector continued to see muted recovery in April.

Imports slowed by 5.8 from March39;s level of 11.55 million bpd.

Chinas crude buying slowed down on strengthened crude oil prices and weakened domestic diesel demand, said Lin Ye, an analyst at Rystad Energy in Beijing.

Chinas crude demand is expected to be supported by larger export quota this year and new refinery startup later this year, she added.

Chinese consultancy JLC said ahead of the data that it forecast seaborne oil shipments to fall 4.6 in April from March due to tight profit margins and the arrival of maintenance season.

JLC forecast maintenance at stateowned refineries to peak in the second…