BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China processed more crude oil in the first two months to ease supply shortage plaguing some areas.

    China processed 55.81 million tons of crude oil in the first two months, up 7.4 percent from the same period of 2007, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on Friday.

    The growth rate was 1.7 percentage points higher than the same period of last year.

    Output of gasoline and diesel surged 4.1 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively. Natural gas production expanded by 20.3 percent.

    According to NDRC, the country's crude oil output hit 30.78 million tons in the Jan-Feb period, up 1.2 percent year on year, while imports shot up 9.5 percent to 28.23 million tons.