China will start building its third West-East natural gas pipeline this year, the state-controlled Xinhua news agency reported Wednesday, citing officials from China 's largest oil and gas producer.

The third West-East natural gas pipeline, which is being built by PetroChina, will run from Horgos in northwestern China's Xinjiang Autonomous Region to Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province in southeastern China, Jiang Jiemin, chairman of PetroChina Co. Ltd. (PTR), was cited as saying by Xinhua.

The third pipeline will be linked to Line C of the Central Asia-China natural gas pipeline, which is expected to come onstream at the same time.

China currently has two major pipelines transporting natural gas from Central Asia and resource-rich Xinjiang to the energy-thirst eastern half of the nation, Xinhua said.

The nation's first West-East gas pipeline, which runs from the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang to Shanghai , has an annual capacity of 12 billion cubic meters.

The second, which will ultimately stretch 8,704 km through 15 provinces and regions, has an annual capacity of 30 billion cubic meters, Xinhua said.

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