Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Sept. 10 /Trend, D. Azizov/
Uzbekistan and China will build the fourth branch of the Uzbekistan-China gas pipeline with a capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year, a statement of the National Information Agency of Uzbekistan (UzA) said on Tuesday.
The corresponding protocol to the Agreement on the principles of construction and operation of the gas pipeline was signed last Monday during a visit of the Chinese President Xi Jinping to Uzbekistan.
The details and terms of the project's implementation have not been yet specified.
The construction of a Central Asia - China gas pipeline began in 2008.
The pipeline is designed to export natural gas from Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to China.
The total length of the gas pipeline is about 7,000 km (on Uzbekistan's territory it is 525 km) the diameter is 1,067 mm, and the capacity of the two branches of the pipeline is 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
The project's cost is about $2.2 billion, and its financing is carried out with credit from the China Development Bank as well as with the direct investments of the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC).