President of the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association said China will increase oil refining capacity an additional 100 million tons by 2010, easing the huge domestic demand for finished oil products.

China processed a record of 273 million tons of crude oil in 2004, up 13.7 percent year-on-year, said Tan Zhuzhou at a press conference held here Monday. This was the fastest growth in the past three decades.

The fast-growing domestic demand for finished oil products has given full play to the surplus refining capacity that lay idle for a dozen years, he said. And it has been on the top agenda of the country's oil giants to develop and expand oil refining capacity.

China is currently one of the world's major producers of the petrochemical products -- production includes fertilizer, synthetic ammonia, soda, sulphuric acid, dyestuff, phosphate, synthetic fiber, pesticide, caustic soda, tyre, ethylene and coating.

The country invested 258 billion yuan (31 billion US dollars) to develop the petrochemical products in 2004, accounting for 86 percent of the total injected into the petroleum and chemical industry.