China Gas Holdings is increasing its long-term exposure to US liquefied natural gas even as Beijing keeps a 15% tariff on American LNG and China’s overall LNG imports sit at a three-year low.
The Chinese gas distributor agreed to buy 500,000 metric tons of LNG annually from Venture Global for 20 years beginning in 2030, according to the companies. The new contract raises China Gas’s long-term commitments with Venture Global to 2.5 million metric tons per year.
The latest agreement comes as a 25% increase on the 2 million metric tons per year China Gas previously contracted from Venture Global in 2023. Those earlier 20-year deals covered 1 million tons annually from Plaquemines LNG and another 1 million tons from CP2 LNG, both in Louisiana.
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The expansion lands in a market that has moved in the opposite direction since the original contracts were signed.
Beijing imposed a 15% tariff on US LNG in February 2025 during the renewed US-China trade fight. Direct US LNG deliveries to China then stopped in March 2025, while Chinese buyers redirected contracted American cargoes to other markets. Reuters reported in May 2026 that US LNG vessels had begun sailing directly to China again after roughly a year-long pause.
The tariff itself remains. Reuters reported Monday that China has kept the 15% LNG levy even after suspending an additional 24% tariff on US goods for one year.
China Gas is therefore adding US supply for the 2030s without waiting for the trade barrier to disappear.
“It further strengthens our portfolio and reinforces our commitment to establishing an international energy trading platform,” China Gas Chairmant Liu Ming Hui said at the Gastech conference in Bangkok.
The contract also arrives as China is becoming a less certain source of growth for global LNG producers. Chinese LNG imports fell to 68.43 million metric tons in 2025, their lowest level in three years, as the country leaned more heavily on pipeline gas, domestic production, and renewable energy.
The demand shift has already pushed major forecasters to cut longer-term expectations for Chinese LNG consumption. Reuters reported in July that forecasts from S&P Global, Wood Mackenzie, and JPMorgan had been reduced by 14 million to 22 million tons for the early 2030s.
The agreement was announced ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected trip to Washington this month. The White House said in May that President Donald Trump would host Xi in Washington in the fall.
For Venture Global, the new commitment adds another contracted buyer as the exporter expands its Louisiana portfolio. The company said in August that it exported 127 cargoes in the second quarter, up 42% from a year earlier, while raising full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance to $8.7 billion to $9.1 billion.
