China’s newly created independent pipeline contractor and operator PipeChina, has announced the start of construction of the $1.3 billion natural gas trunk line in northern China.

Reuters reports that the new natural gas pipeline will connect an import terminal at Tianjin in the north east with Xiongan near Beijing. This new trunk pipeline will be some 413 km in length and have a diameter of 1.106 m. This is one of PipeChina’s largest investments since it’s establishment in October 2020 under liberalisation of China’s energy sector.

PipeChina has taken over state-owned PetroChina and Sinopec’s oil and gas pipelines as well as storage facilities in return for cash and equity in the pipeline company.

Once this gas trunk line is complete, it will have sufficient capacity to transport some 6,600,000,000 m³ of gas, which represents around two percent of the country’s total annual natural gas consumption. At the Beijing terminus , the pipeline will connect with several other pipelines including, most notably, a pipeline scheme which links the capital city region with Tianjin and Hebei to Russia’s natural gas export pipeline the Power Of Siberia.

This trunk pipeline together with concurrent natural gas pipeline projects, should revitalise and boost economic development in China’s rust belt.