Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, has transported 270 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China since it was put into operation some 10 years ago, said the company, which is also known as Petro-China, China Daily reports.

The current capacity for annual natural gas transmission from Central Asia to China is up to 55 billion cu m. The pipeline, the country’s first transborder energy channel that brings gas from abroad over land, represents more than 15 percent of yearly national gas consumption. It benefits more than 300 million residents from 27 provinces on the mainland and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, it said.

Bloomberg Intelligence data show China’s dependence on imports to meet domestic gas demand is expected to rise to 75 percent in 2020 from 57 percent in 2017. PetroChina has been diversifying its transborder gas transport and construction of cross-border natural gas pipelines in recent years.

The Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline is a key export destination for gas to Central Asia. Currently, this gas pipeline consists of three lines, which deliver gas from the Turkmen-Uzbek border to China via Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The total length of the pipeline connecting Turkmenistan with 15 provinces of China is over 9,000 kilometers and is one of the largest pipeline projects in the world.