SINGAPORE - China's gas distributor ENN Group plans to double its east China-based gas receiving terminal to 10 million tonnes a year by the end of 2024, making the facility one of the country's largest, a company official said on Wednesday.

ENN is China's first privately-run gas company to own a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, and it currently operates the Zhoushan terminal able to receive 5 million tonnes of the super-chilled fuel annually.

ENN aims to complete the regulatory procedures for the expansion in the second half of this year, said a company representative.

Such an expansion needs approval from state planner the National Development & Reform Commission, the official added.

The company has since last August been ramping up gas imports after its Zhoushan terminal's handling capacity got a boost following a pipeline connection to the Zhejiang provincial gas and more recently the addition of new storage tanks.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu, editing by Louise Heavens) ((aizhu.chen@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3284; Reuters Messaging: aizhu.chen.reuters.com@reuters.net))