Uzbekistan and China signed the agreement on the principles of construction and exploitation of the pipeline in April 2007 during the visit of the chairman of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Ma Kai to Tashkent.

To coordinate the design, construction and exploitation of the gas pipeline on the territory of Uzbekistan, an Uzbek-Chinese joint venture Asia Trans Gas was set up.

Vice Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Ergash Shoismatov, vice chairman of the NDRC and head of China’s National Energy Bureau Zhang Gobao, as well as vice president of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) Liao Yongyuan participated in the construction launch ceremony.

The project worth a total of over USD 2 billion, stipulates construction of two 500-km-long lines. The first one will be commissioned in December 2009, while the second one in 2011.