According to data from the General Administration of Customs, purchases of raw red metal and derived products were 4.3% higher than in October,
Chinese copper imports hit a one-year high in November, customs data showed on Tuesday, boosted by firm demand and declining stocks as well as rising shipments from Africa.
Imports of raw copper and derived products last month stood at 528,000 tonnes, 4.3% more than in October, according to data from the General Administration of Customs.
The figure was the highest since last November, when imports reached 550,566 tonnes.
Data includes anodes, refined, alloyed and semi-finished copper products.
"Copper consumption has been quite good this year, as evidenced by the production data of home appliances in China," said Zhao Yongcheng, principal analyst at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI).
Both manufacturing and services activities in the world's top metals consumer expanded at a moderate pace last month, official and private surveys show.
Domestic inventories continued to decline last month amid strong demand for the metal, which is widely used in the energy, construction and transportation sectors.
Copper stocks for delivery on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell last month to a nine-month low of 108,775 tonnes on Nov. 29, down 29% from 153,221 tonnes on Nov. 1.
The surge in imports came amid a drop in copper prices in China and around the world as investors sold bullish positions on the prospect of tariffs under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and disappointment over China's lack of aggressive stimulus.
Meanwhile, there was an increase in copper shipments from Africa, mainly from assets owned by Chinese companies such as CMOC Group, Zhao said.
In the first 11 months of the year, raw copper imports totaled 5.13 million tonnes, up 1.7 percent year on year, the data showed.
Copper concentrate imports last month stood at 2.25 million tonnes, down 7.8% from a year earlier.
Copper concentrate imports totaled 25.6 million tonnes in the first 11 months, up 2.2% from a year earlier.
