OREANDA-NEWS. November 30, 2011. Ignition ceremonies were simultaneously held in Shenzhen and Guangzhou to celebrate the arrival of natural gas from Turkmenistan. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, Secretary of Guangdong Provincial Party Committee Wang Yang, Acting Governor Zhu Xiaodan and CNPC Chairman Jiang Jiemin attended the ceremony and pressed the ignition button together in Shenzhen. The natural gas, traveling 6,811km through Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline and the Second West-East Gas Pipeline, started burning brightly, reported the press-centre of CNPC.

China and Turkmenistan signed a natural gas cooperation agreement in July 2007. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov's current visit to China brings a new gas supply agreement which adds 25 billion cubic meters to the annual delivery, making the total gas supply from Turkmenistan to China up to 65 billion cubic meters.

Connected at Horgos in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region, Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline and the Second West-East Gas Pipeline comprise the longest gas pipeline in the world. The pipeline has maintained safe and stable operation since it became operational in December 2009. Up to now, the pipeline has accumulatively delivered 17.5 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Turkmenistan to China.