China imported one million tons of grain in the first seven months of this year, a decrease of 54.9 percent from a year earlier, the General Administration of Customs said on Friday.

The imports were valued at 320 million U.S. dollars, down 34.6 percent, and included 641,000 tons of barley, down 54.4 percent, and 264,000 tons of rice, down 36.4 percent.

The barley imports were priced at 269.3 U.S. dollars per ton, up 45.5 percent, and paddy and rice, 473.4 U.S. dollars per ton, up 27.5 percent.

The administration attributed the decline in imports to a growth in grain production at home, price hikes on the international markets and mounting transport costs.