The pipeline, which is constructed by China National Petroleum Corporation, has so far transmitted 45-billion cubic meters of natural gas.

 

　　In an exclusive interview with CRI, CNPC's general manager Zhou Jiping explains top quality gas has benefited half a billion people since completion of the project in 2009.

 

　　"This pipeline has been connected with China's two West-East gas lines. One of them has been extended to southern Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It is in the interests of environmental protection to exploit natural gas. We plan to transform China's energy structure by using more clean and low-carbon energy such as natural gas."

 

　　The natural gas pipeline, which is more than 18-hundred kilometers in length, stretches from the border of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan in the west.

 

　　It passes through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and enters China at Horgos Port in northwest Xinjiang.

 

　　The second pipeline linking China and Central Asia is now under construction.

 

　　It is expected to transmit 25-billion cubic meters of natural gas to China every year.

 

　　Statistics show that natural gas makes up 5 percent of the country's total energy consumption, far below the 24 percent in developed countries.