The gas pipeline “Central Asia – China” was put into operation in 2009 and is currently the largest cross-border gas pipeline in the world. Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in natural gas reserves and China is the largest consumer of energy on the globe. The pipeline route passes through the territories of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, before entering Chinese territory.
From December 2009 to December 2019, from Central Asia, mainly from Turkmenistan, to China were delivered 294.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas, “Trend.az” reports, citing an information of the “Xinhua” news agency from the 6-th of January, 2020.
The “Xinhua” news agency cites data from the “PetroChina West Pipeline Company”. Turkmen gas operations have benefited more than 500 million people in 27 provincial-level administrative units, as well as in the Special Administrative Region of Xianggang, the release said.
China receives more than 15 percent of the country's annual consumption of this type of fuel through the considered pipeline. It is also reported that more than 47.9 billion cubic meters of natural gas were delivered through the Central Asia-China pipeline in 2019.
According to official Turkmen data, 40 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas were planned to be exported to China in 2019.
The considered gas pipeline ("Central Asia - China") was put into operation in 2009 and is currently the largest cross-border gas pipeline in the world. Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in natural gas reserves and China is the largest consumer of energy on the globe.
The pipeline route passes through the territories of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, before entering Chinese territory. The construction of a fourth line of the pipeline is planned - through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. With the introduction of the fourth line, the volume of natural gas exported to China will increase.
Eventually, the volume of gas exported from Turkmenistan to China is projected to reach 65 billion cubic meters annually, which will be more than one and a half times the current situation. The total length of the pipeline, starting from the Malay gas field and from the right bank of the Amu Darya River, is more than 9000 kilometers. From the already existing and functioning pipeline, 490 kilometers of pipes are laid in Uzbekistan, 1304 kilometers are in Kazakhstan and more than 7000 kilometers are in China, reaching major industrial centers of the country such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong, where from the natural gas is distributed through other gas transmission networks.