China on Wednesday laid out a primary plan for its second pipeline of the West-East natural gas transmission project.

According to the plan, construction of the 8,794 kilometer gas pipeline, which consists of one major line and eight sub-lines, will involve an investment of approximately 143.5 billion yuan ($19.8 billion).

The major line will extend 4,945 km, running from Khorgos in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to Guangzhou, capital of south Guangdong Province.

Construction of the pipeline will begin this year and it will go into operation in 2010. The pipeline would pass through 13 Chinese regions.

It would carry natural gas from central Asian countries and Xinjiang to the economically prosperous but energy thirsty eastern and southern China areas, including Shanghai and Guangdong Province.