A 7,000 kilometer (4,350 mile) natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to China will start operations in December, Turkmenistan's head of state announced Wednesay.
President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said in a nationally televised address that the gas pipeline, for which work started in 2007, would be inaugurated on Dec. 15.
China National Petroleum Corp. has signed a 30 year accord to import up to 30 billion cubic metres of gas a year through the pipeline.
China has signed several major deals to get new energy imports from Central Asia.