China's National Energy Administration on Wednesday adopted last September's draft policy proposal aimed improving the efficiency of its natural gas sector and ensuring supply security.

The policy is also designed to help the world's top energy user to reach its 2060 carbon-neutral goal and avoid price shocks such as last year's spike resulting from the war in Ukraine.

Revisions to the previous policy adopted in 2012 are in keeping with changes that have taken place in usage of natural gas, an NEA official said in a question and answer session with media representatives, citing demand for heating from clean energy as one example.

The new policy has kept households, industrial consumers and the likes of hospitals and schools as priority users of natural gas, allowing local government and related bodies to provide tax and financing support among other benefits.

Gas-based manufacturing of methanol and other petrochemicals will be restricted under the new policy.

The rules, applied to both domestically produced and imported natural gas, will take effect from Aug. 1.

(Reporting by Siyi Liu and Colleen Howe Editing by David Goodman)