HANGZHOU, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- A company in east China's Zhejiang Province has started exporting refined oil products, becoming the country's only private enterprise thus far to be allowed to engage in the export of such products, according to authorities.

A ship carrying over 37,000 tonnes of 92-octane petrol left a port in the city of Zhoushan for Singapore on Sunday, marking the inauguration of the export business of the Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical Co., Ltd., according to the city's bureau of commerce.

A total of 1 million tonnes of refined oil products are expected to be exported by the company by the end of this year.

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, the oversupply of domestic refined oil has intensified, and the exports will help the company with de-stocking, said an official from the bureau.

Located in the Zhejiang pilot free trade zone, the company was given the green light for the export of refined oil products after the State Council, or China's cabinet, approved a series of measures in late March for the development of the whole industry chain in the oil and gas sector within the free trade zone, including developing the refined oil product export business.