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Image used for illustrative purpose. Excavators hold gas pipes at a construction site of the Gazelle high-pressure natural gas pipeline near the town of Plzen June 7, 2012. The Gazelle pipeline diversifies the options for supplying natural gas to the Czech Republic and other European countries. REUTERS/David W Cerny
* China has started to construct the middle part of the eastlineof a natural gas pipeline connecting Russia and northern China,state-backed China Central Television (CCTV) reported onThursday
* The 1,110-km pipeline starts from Changling in thenortheasternprovince of Jilin and ends at Yongqing in Hebei province aftergoing through the Inner Mongolia region, Liaoning province andthe city of Tianjin, said CCTV
* The project is part of the 3,968-km China-Russia naturalgaspipeline with an annual transmission capacity of 38 billioncubic metres, aiming to meet increasing demand in populousBeijing-Tianjin-Hebei region
* The middle part is expected to complete by October 2020
(Reporting by Muyu Xu and Dominique Patton; editing byChristian Schmollinger) ((muyu.xu@thomsonreuters.com; +86 010 66271298;))
