UPDATE 1-China sets 2010 non-state crude and fuel oil quotas

* China sets non-state crude oil import quota at 25.3 mln T

* Sets import quota for fuel oil at 14.09 million tonnes (Adds background)

BEIJING, Sept 21 - China has set the 2010 non-state crude oil import quota at 25.3 million tonnes, the Ministry of Commerce said on Monday, part of Beijing's commitment made eight years ago to the World Trade Organisation.

The amount, some 13 percent of China's annual imports, will be alloted to traders outside the dominant four state traders -- Unipec, Chinaoil, Sinochem and Zhuhai Zhenrong -- but these non-state traders will have to sell back the crude they import to the oil duopoly Sinopec and PetroChina.

It also set the import quota for fuel oil at 14.09 million tonnes, the ministry said in the statement on its website (www.mofcom.gov.cn).

"There were some increases in the quotas from a year earlier based on China's commitments when joining the World Trade Organisation," said Geng Xiewei, an official with the foreign trade department under the ministry.

China's non-state fuel oil import quota for 2009 was 11.25 million tonnes.

China is committed unde the WTO to increase the amount of crude and refined fuels that non-state firms can import by 15 percent every year until 2011.

But the quotas were more of a protocol than an indication of real market opening, as the import business remains dominated by powerful state oil firms and tough requirements actually prevent private oil firms from entering the trade business.

Non-state import quotas for urea were set at 330,000 tonnes, 3.38 million tonnes for diammonium phosphate and 1.69 million tonnes for compound fertiliser, the ministry said.

Total quotas for the three chemical fertilisers were at 3.3 million tonnes, 6.9 million tonnes and 3.45 million tonnes respectively.