According to a report from energy market consultancy S&P Global Platts, based on Chinese customs data and industry sources, in total China bought 2.9 million tons of crude oil from Angola in July, making the African country the sixth main supplier of the Asian power.
Angola traditionally occupied the first three places, alternating with Russia and Saudi Arabia, among the main suppliers of oil to China.
Saudi Arabia and Russia remain the two largest suppliers, followed by Iraq, Kuwait and Oman, illustrating the growing preponderance of the Middle East, to the detriment of the African continent.
Overall, oil exports from African countries to China sank by 41.5 percent in July compared to the same month last year, according to Chinese customs data.
During the same period, imports from the Middle East, which now account for about half of China's total purchases, fell 1.2 percent year-on-year to 147.77 million tons.
Brazil became the seventh-largest supplier, behind Angola, with 2.4 million tons of crude exported to China.
China's total crude oil imports fell 5.6 percent to 301.83 million tons between January and July.
Analysts predict that crude exports from the African continent to China will continue to decline sharply in the third quarter due to slowing production at Chinese refineries, while many private refineries in the country face shortages in the availability of oil import quotas.
Chinese refineries outside the state-owned sector imported about 7.92 million tons of Angolan oil between January and July, making up about 34 percent of China's purchases from the African country, according to data from S&P Global Platts.
However, the availability of import quotas from private refineries fell to about 40 million tons from August onwards, compared to about 95.72 million tons in the first seven months, the Platts data showed.
