China's oil and feed demand has increased significantly as the country fast-tracked the restoration of economic activities, which led to a surge in soybean imports.

During the first four months, soybean imports via the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin exceeded 2 million tonnes, up 66.9 percent year on year, according to the city's customs.

The main source of imports was the Americas, accounting for 99.4 percent of the total imports.

Privately owned companies were the biggest importers, with their soybean imports rising 4.5 times year on year to 669,000 tonnes during the period.

Imports of state-owned enterprises reached 417,000 tonnes, representing an increase of 2.2 times over the same period of last year.