China’s November imports hit 2.13 million tons, or 517,560 barrels per day (bpd), up 53 percent from 338,635 bpd in October.
As Iran's largest oil client, China brought in 24.9 million tons, or 544,100 bpd, in the first 11 months of the year, up 29 percent over the same period last year, the highest level since 2011.
Forecasts by Thomson Reuters Oil Analytics show that imports in December could once again top 2 million tons.
As for next year, China's state-run oil trader Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp has renewed a pact with National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to buy the same volume of Iranian crude supplies as it did this year.
Data last month showed that Asian imports of Iranian crude had fallen below 1 million bpd to a one-year low, due to seasonal demand fluctuations, although shipments were still up nearly a third from October last year, according to Reuters.