UPDATE 1-China ports received 9 pct more foreign crude in Apr

(adds background, comparison with March customs data)

BEIJING May 6 (Reuters) - China's main ports received 15.3 million tonnes or 3.72 million barrels per day of imported crude oil in April, 9 percent over a year earlier, a paper run by Ministry of Communications reported.

The figure, which may vary from official crude imports data due for release next week, does not take into account shipments by pipeline or railway, meaning the total April import amount could rival that of March, which was the second-highest on record on a daily basis.

The world's second-largest oil consumer imported 3.85 million bpd of crude oil in March, down 5 percent on year, but up a quarter from February on a daily rate as refiners replenished stocks after scaled back imports in the previous few months.

In addition to shipping via seaborne routes, China imports crude oil from central Asia via the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline and a portion of oil imports from Russia are shipped by rail.

China's oil imports from Russia averaged 266,420 bpd in the first quarter of 2009 and shipments from Kazakhstan at 98,195 bpd, customs data showed.

(Reporting by Jim Bai and Chen Aizhu, Editing by Chris Lewis)