BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- China's first strategic oil reserve base began operation on Monday as oil started filling up its tanks, according to a National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) official.

    "Compared with the United States and Japan, China is late in building its first strategic oil reserve and the size of the reserve is small,¡± said Zhu Hongren, an NDRC official.

    The reserve is located in Ningbo in east China's Zhejiang Province.

    China approved the construction of four national strategic oil reserve bases in 2004. The other three are in Daishan, also in Zhejiang Province, Huangdao in east China's Shandong Province and Dalian in northeast Liaoning Province.

    Official statistics showed that China imported a record 145.18 million tons of crude oil last year, making it the world's third largest oil importer after the United States and Japan.