China launches 1,100-km section of China-Russia East gas pipeline

BEIJING (Reuters) - Operations have started on the middle portion of the China-Russia East natural gas pipeline, allowing natural gas from the Power of Siberia system in Russia to be transmitted to the smog-prone Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in northern China.

The 1,110-kilometre pipeline aims to help improve air quality in the region, where about a quarter of China's steelmaking capacity is located, by adding 27 million cubic metres gas supply per day, China Oil & Gas Piping Network Corp (PipeChina) said in a statement on Thursday, adding that the pipeline will also promote economic development alongside the rust-belt areas.

This portion starts at Changling city in Jilin and ends at Yongqing city in Hebei. The pipeline also connects the existing gas pipelines in northeastern and northern China, as well as the gas storage projects in Dalian, Tangshan and Liaohe.

The northern part of the China-Russia East gas pipeline started operations in December 2019 and has transmitted nearly 4 billion cubic metres (bcm) natural gas, according to PipeChina.

China had started construction on the southern portion of the China-Russia East pipeline in July, extending the route to Shanghai in eastern China.

Volumes of Russian gas transported via the pipeline could reach 38 bcm per annum once the line is completed by 2025.

(Reporting by Muyu Xu in Beijing and Chen Aizhu in Singapore, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)