China's oil giant China Petrochemical Corp, better known as Sinopec, reported a first-quarter net income of 18.54 billion yuan ($2.86 billion) during the first three months this year amid a recovery in global oil prices and robust demand for refined oil products.

Revenue during the first quarter reached 576.98 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.1 percent, the company said in a release on Wednesday.

The company processed 62.52 million tons of crude oil, up 16.3 percent compared with the same period last year, thanks to China's rising fuel demand.

"The company has been dynamically adjusting refined oil product exports in accordance with market changes and maintaining stable and high operational rates of refining facilities," the company said in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Compared with 13.2 billion yuan during the same period last year, the company’s capital expenditure came in at 23 billion yuan, with 9 billion yuan in the exploration and development sector, it said.

The company earlier said it expects to raise 2021 spending by 23.8 percent to 167.2 billion yuan.