BEIJING -- China's meat import posted the fastest growth in comparison with the import of other major staple commodities in 2019, customs data showed Tuesday.

The country's pork import surged by 75 percent year-on-year to 2.11 million tonnes while beef import jumped by 59.7 percent to 1.66 million metric tons, according to the data from the General Administration of Customs.

The import of iron ore and soybeans both edged up 0.5 percent year-on-year to 1.07 billion tons and 88.51 million tons respectively.

The import of crude oil reached 506 million tons, up 9.5 percent year-on-year, while natural gas import rose by 6.9 percent to 96.56 million tons.