China's imports from Venezuela in September this year fell by 27.2 percent compared to September 2018, as China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and its listed unit PetroChina have been skipping loadings from Venezuela since August, to avoid running afoul of the U.S. Administration. Amid the tightening U.S. sanctions on Nicolas Maduro's regime in Venezuela, PetroChina was said to have canceled loading plans in August that would have seen imports of 5 million barrels of Venezuelan oil into China. PetroChina was the largest importer of Venezuelan oil in China until the U.S. slapped more sanctions on the South American country. In September, CNPC skipped loadings from Venezuela for a second consecutive month and is expected to continue skipping such purchases until the U.S. makes clear if secondary sanctions would apply to entities dealing with Venezuela's PDVSA.