BEIJING - China is now the sixth biggest natural gas producer in the world, three places higher than in 2007, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology on Thursday.

Gas output expanded from 68 billion cubic meters in 2007 to 137 billion cubic meters in 2016. Proven reserves of natural gas surged from 6.1 trillion cubic meters in 2007 to 13 trillion cubic meters in 2016, ninth in the world.

Natural gas accounts for 6 percent in China's primary energy consumption, and the figure is expected to rise to close to 10 percent by 2020, said a ministry official.