Workers check the pipeline at a compressor station along the West-to-east Gas Pipeline. (Du Yanfei/People's Daily Online)

By Aug. 11, 2019, China had transported a total of around 7.6 billion cubic meters of natural gas to its Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) via a project which ships natural gas from west to east, meeting the demand for natural gas in Hong Kong.

The amount of natural gas transported to Hong Kong via China's project for shipping natural gas from west to east has increased year by year, with the annual volume of natural gas delivered to Hong Kong through the project rising from 390 million cubic meters in 2013 to 1.5 billion cubic meters in 2018.

The project for shipping natural gas from west to east, which is an iconic project of China's western region development campaign, was launched in China in July 2002. Now the project includes a natural gas transportation pipeline network with a total length of 12,294 kilometers, benefiting nearly 400 million people in over 160 cities of 16 provincial-level administrative regions and Hong Kong SAR.

The primary natural gas transport capacity of the project's pipeline network has reached 123.6 billion cubic meters per year, according to a relevant executive of PetroChina West-East Gas Pipeline Company, which is in charge of the construction of the pipeline as well as the production and operation of the project.

The project now has a pipeline network consisting of three main lines, nine branches, 12 interconnection lines, 18 subbranches, 178 compressor stations, 25 maintenance teams, 480 valve chambers, and two natural gas metering sub-stations, said the executive.

By Aug. 1, 2019, the company had sold 492 billion cubic meters of natural gas, disclosed the executive, explaining that this amount of natural gas can replace 639 million tonnes of standard coal equivalents, and reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide, fine dust, and carbon dioxide by 43 million tonnes, 349 million tonnes, and 453 million tonnes respectively.