OREANDA-NEWS. Natural gas traveling from the Bay of Bengal was ignited in Guigang, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China, indicating that the trunk line of the Myanmar-China Gas Pipeline has gone into full operation.

The trunk line of the Myanmar-China Gas Pipeline totals 2,520km, with 793km in Myanmar and 1,727km in China. The pipeline starts from Myanmar's Kyaukryu and enters China at Ruili in Yunnan Province. The pipeline is expected to transmit 12 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year, benefiting hundreds of millions of people in Myanmar and Southwest China. This amount of natural gas will reduce coal consumption by 30.72 million tons and CO2 emissions by 52.83 million tons.

Construction of the pipeline had stimulated direct investment of over RMB 100 billion in regions along the line. More than 6,000 local people were hired during peak time of project construction and the total number of local employment went beyond 2.9 million, with participation of more than 220 companies based in Myanmar. Meanwhile, CNPC subsidiaries engaged in the project put great efforts in promoting public welfare in the country. By funding and helping to build 45 middle schools and primary schools, 24 hospitals and medical treatment stations, we have helped improve teaching conditions for over 19,000 students and medical environment for 800,000 people in local communities.

A joint venture project among six companies from four countries, the Myanmar-China Oil and Gas Pipelines will bring benefits not only to China and Myanmar, but also to investors from Korea and India. In addition to the "road toll", Myanmar can also unload a certain amount of natural gas within its territory to ease energy shortage. Thanks to the project, Kyaukryu has become a new and prosperous economic development zone, attracting many foreign companies.

Myanmar's Vice President U Nyan Tun said that the Myanmar-China Oil and Gas Pipelines will not only bring benefit to all participating parties, but also of great significance to the long-term development of Myanmar by driving economic development, industrialization and electrification of the country.