China imported 27.88 million metric tons of crude oil in April, equivalent to 6.8 million barrels a day, preliminary data from the General Administration of Customs showed Thursday. The crude imports were the highest on record when calculated on a daily basis, and surpassed the previous record in January, when the country shipped in about 6.7 million barrels a day. China imported 28.16 million tons of crude in January, which is the record for crude imports on a monthly basis. Meanwhile, April’s imports were 20.8% higher than the 23.08 million tons of crude shipped in during the corresponding month last year, and up around 18.5% from 23.52 million tons in March, according to Wall Street Journal calculations. Refined oil product imports totaled 2.54 million tons, while exports totaled 2.2 million tons, the data showed. Write to Wayne Ma at [email protected]