China's natural gas output rose 7.3 percent year-on-year to 8.8 billion cubic meters in October, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Sunday.

The apparent consumption of natural gas climbed 12.7 percent compared with 2011 to reach 12.4 billion cubic meters last month, according to the NDRC, the country's top economic planner.

As one of the world's top energy users, China imported 3.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas in October, up 26.4 percent from the same period last year, the commission said.

China's gas output climbed 6.4 percent year-on-year to 87.8 billion cubic meters between January and October. The increase was faster than the 6.2 percent expansion seen in the January-September period.

Meanwhile, natural gas imports surged by 37.6 percent year-on-year to hit 34.4 billion cubic meters in the first 10 months, while the pace of growth was faster than the 35.5 percent increase reported in the January-September period.

Meanwhile, China's two oil giants, PetroChina (PTR: NYSE; 0857.HK; 601857.SH) and China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) (SNP: NYSE; 0386. HK; 600028.SH) are planning to increase the natural gas supply by 4 billion cubic meters during this winter and next spring.

Power consumption of the world's second-largest economy will grow by about 6 percent to 5 trillion kilowatt-hours, as the nation's economy stabilizes, the State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) forecast Wednesday.