Compared with the construction of crude oil storage, which has drawn much attention in recent years, construction of natural gas storage should be treated with equal importance, as the consumption of natural gas will see faster growth than other fossil fuels, said analysts.

The country's natural gas market is promising, as the use of the clean energy fits well with China's efforts to build an environmentally friendly economy, said Zhuang Rongjin, director of the natural gas department of the Guangdong Oil and Gas Association.

As a clean energy source, natural gas now accounts for only about 3 percent of China's total energy consumption. The government plans to increase the use of natural gas to 5 percent of total energy consumption in 2010.

According to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), China may be dependent on imports for more than one-third of its total natural gas consumption by 2030.

In 2004, China completed first west-east pipeline. The project exclusively uses domestically produced natural gas.

China is also building the second west-east gas pipeline. The 9,000-km-long line is the largest of its kind in the world. The pipeline will carry natural gas produced in Central Asia and Xinjiang to the country's eastern and southern regions.