Gas pipeline to be ready in 3 years

Demand for clean fuel set to increase and may outstrip domestic output

China is expected to complete the China-Russia East-Route Natural Gas Pipeline by the end of 2020, which will send up to 38 billion cubic meters of gas annually from Russia to China, according to China National Petroleum Corp.

The first phase of the pipeline linking Heihe in Heilongjiang province and Changling in Jilin province will be completed by October 2019, with the rest of the domestic pipelines linking Changling to Shanghai completed by the end of 2020, CNPC, the country's largest oil and gas producer by annual output, said on Wednesday.