Chinese trains transported 50 million tons of oil during the first five months this year, up 12 percent year on year, according to the latest figures from the Ministry of Railways.

China, the world's second largest oil consumer, is expected to consume 270 million tons of crude oil in 2004, according to a Ministry of Commerce report.

Last year the country's oil product demand was shored up by 11.4 percent, and experts expect the consumption of gasoline, diesel oil and kerosene to hit 136 million tons this year, up 4.6 percent.