China Oil & Gas Pipeline Network Corporation, also known as PipeChina, said on Friday that it has commenced building a second pipeline that connects fields in Southwest China's Sichuan province with the east coast, with an annual natural gas transmission capacity of 20 billion cubic meters.

The pipeline, originating in the southwestern province of Sichuan with a total length of 4,269 kilometers, will join the current pipeline grid and eventually reach regasification terminals in Zhejiang and Fujian provinces on the east coast, said the company.

The project will further promote the coordinated development of the central and western regions with the eastern coastal areas, and drive the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, it said.

After the project is completed, the annual transportation capacity of the Sichuan-to-East Gas Pipeline system will increase to 35 billion cubic meters. The additional 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas supply each year would cut carbon dioxide emissions by more than 29 million tons a year versus the equivalent use of coal, it said.

This will promote the increase of natural gas's proportion in China's primary energy consumption structure by more than 0.3 percentage points and is of great significance for promoting energy structure adjustment, green transformation of development mode, and enhancing the clean energy supply capacity along the pipeline route, it said.