The first of the five tunnels went beneath the Yangtze River for a major gas pipeline running from the southwest province Sichuan to Shanghai was completed on Monday 9:30am after 325 days' construction.

Laid about 20 meter beneath the riverbed, the tunnel with a diameter of 3.08 meters and a length of 1,405 meters connects two gas wells on each bank of the Yangtze River in the section of Yichang City in Hubei Province.

With 356.1 billion cubic meters of proven reserves, the Sichuan Puguang gas field is estimated to produce 12 billion cubic meters of purified gas by 2010, equivalent to 10 million tons of standard coal annually.

The pipeline is 2,203-km long and the mainline will extend 1,700 km. It is expected to channel natural gas from Puguang gas field to central and eastern China, including Chongqing, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai with annual gas volume to12 billion cubic meters,

The remaining four tunnels will cross under the Yangtze River as well, at Zhongxian Country of Chongqing, Wuhan and Huangshi in Hubei Province, and Anqing in Anhui Province respectively, accordance to the construction plan.

This pipeline is another 'energy artery' following the first West-East gas project to fuel the energy-insufficient eastern areas from western parts.