Turkmenistan is ahead of Russia in natural gas supplies to China in the second quarter of 2021.

In accordance with the General Administration for Customs of the PRC, which is cited by Interfax, in April 2021, China imported 4.227 billion cubic meters of pipeline gas (after 3.427 billion cubic meters a year earlier).

Turkmenistan supplied 2.576 billion cubic meters, Russia - 487 million cubic meters, Kazakhstan - 617 million cubic meters, Uzbekistan - 229 million cubic meters, Myanmar - 318 million cubic meters.

In May, the export of Turkmen gas to China since the start of the gas pipeline in 2009 reached 300 billion cubic meters.

China is Turkmenistan's largest partner in the gas industry. Media reported this month that Turkmenistan has fully repaid more than 8 billion US dollars of China's loans for the construction of a gas pipeline and the development of the world's largest gas field “Galkynysh”. And recently it became known that the Chinese company CNPC Chuanging Drilling Engineering Company Ltd won an international tender for the provision of services for the construction of new wells at the “Galkynysh” field.

The project is designed for 30 months. In accordance with the agreement signed in 2007, payment for the company's services will be carried out at the expense of the annual supply of 17 billion cubic meters of natural gas to the PRC for three years.