On December 15, commencement ceremony for the construction of Line C's Uzbekistan section of Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline was held in Gazli, Uzbekistan. CNPC Vice President Wang Dongjin and Uzbekneftegaz First Deputy Chairman Shavkat Mazhitov cut ribbon and delivered speeches for the ceremony.

Line C of the Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline covers a distance of 529km in Uzbekistan and plays an important role in diversifying Uzbekistan’s gas export. Running 1,840km in parallel with Line A and B which have already become operational, Line C is designed to deliver 25 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to China. It is estimated to start gas supply from January 2014, and reach the designed deliverability in December 2015, enhancing the total transmission capacity of the Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline to 55 billion cubic meters per year.