China's National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) announced that the major product of China's western development drive - the western crude oil pipeline- began initial production trials.

With a total investment of 15 billion Yuan, China's western crude oil pipeline is one of the nation's longest transporting oil pipelines. It is equipped with the highest design pressure, the largest designed volume of transportation, the highest degree of automation, and the most building groups. The pipeline starts at Urumqi in Xingjiang Province, and ends at Lanzhou, in Gansu Province. The entire pipeline runs nearly 4,000 kilometers, the main line of the crude oil pipeline can transport 20 million tons per year, and the main product line of the oil pipeline can transport 10 million tons. The whole pipeline consists of 13 stations.

As one of the most important projects of China's drive for western development, once the western pipeline program becomes operational, it will coincide with the Sino-Kazakhstan oil pipeline to transfer oil from western China to eastern China; and replace the original railway transportation with modern pipeline transportation. The oil pipeline project will link western resources and eastern markets by linking oil pipelines in Xinjiang, Gansu, eastern China and southeastern China with oil and petrochemical sales enterprises.