Chinese President Hu Jintao, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and President of Uzbekistan President Islam Karimov attended the inauguration ceremony.

Leaders of China and Central Asian countries said at the opening ceremony that the pipeline serves as a successful example of cooperation among countries in the region.

The 1,833-km pipeline starts at the border between Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and runs through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before reaching northwest China’s Xinjiang region.

One of the two pipelines which make up the project is completed and the other line is expected to be operational next year.

The pipelines are connected to China’s domestic natural gas pipeline network and thus capable of transporting natural gas produced in Turkmenistan to major Chinese cities like Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Chinese officials said that the pipeline will serve the long-term interests of China and Central Asian nations, and will promote the social and economic development of the countries in the region.

Turkmenistan’s state media said that delivering gas supplies to China is important for the implementation of the country’s strategy to diversify energy exports at world market.