China's dependence on foreign crude oil increased to 56.4 percent in 2012, the country's top economic planner said Monday, with analysts warning of increased risk to the nation's energy security as the country's imports of crude oil continue to rise.

China imported 271 million tons of crude oil in 2012, up 7.3 percent from the previous year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said in a report published on its website Monday. 

Consumption of crude oil in the country grew 4.9 percent to 476 million tons in 2012, and its dependence on foreign crude oil hit 56.4 percent in 2012, up from 55.7 percent in 2011, it said.

The official data means that China imported 56.4 percent of its total crude oil consumption, said Lin Boqiang, director of the Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University.

"China's energy security is very vulnerable as its dependence on foreign crude oil has continued to rise in recent years," Lin told the Global Times Monday.

The NDRC said in March 2012 that the country's dependence on foreign crude oil grew from 30 percent in 2000 to around 56 percent in 2011. It has remained above 50 percent since 2008, when it reached 51.3 percent.

"The fast growth of the country's automobile industry is the major factor driving up the crude oil consumption in the country," Lin said.

China sold 19 million units of automobiles in 2012, and the figure is expected to exceed 20 million in 2013, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed in January.

The country plans to cap its dependence on foreign crude oil at 61 percent by 2015, the State Council, the country's cabinet, said on January 23 in its 12th five-year plan for energy development.

If sales of automobiles in the country remain above 18 million each year and domestic crude oil reserves do not increase, it won't take long for China to reach the 61 percent ceiling, a contrast with the US reduction of its reliance on foreign oil in recent years, Lin said.

"With increasing dependence on foreign crude oil, China will have to passively accept the soaring oil price on the international market," Dong Xiucheng, vice president of the College of Business Administration at Beijing-based China University of Petroleum, told the Global Times.

"There's a huge amount of room for energy savings in order to reduce energy consumption and over-dependence on foreign oil," Dong said.

"People have complained about the smoggy weather in the past few weeks, but many of them drive luxury cars with large volumes of emissions," Dong said. "Energy consumption and oil imports will only drop significantly if they choose cars with small emissions."

Repeated bouts of smog have shrouded large parts of the country this winter, triggering public outcry.

"Unless alternative fuels such as shale gas can be used in large scale, the country's reliance on foreign crude oil will not drop," Lin from Xiamen University said.