HARBIN — China has imported 3.85 billion cubic meters of natural gas via the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline over the past year, local authorities said on Dec 2.

The cross-border east route gas pipeline, with a 3,000-km section in Russia and a 5,111-km stretch in China, marked its one-year anniversary on Dec 2 as it was officially put into operation on Dec 2, 2019.

Entering China via the border city of Heihe and running through nine provincial-level regions, the pipeline has been connected with existing natural gas networks in China.

"So far, the natural gas through the pipeline has been supplied to regions including Beijing, Tianjin and Heilongjiang, and it is of great significance for optimizing China's energy structure and boosting the economic growth along the route," said Liu Wubin, an official with a subsidiary of China Oil & Gas Piping Network Corporation.

The pipeline is scheduled to increase its supply to 38 billion cubic meters annually, under a 30-year contract worth $400 billion signed between the China National Petroleum Corp and Russian gas giant Gazprom in May 2014.