China has received more than 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas through the Central Asia-China gas pipeline as of January 7, said China National Petroleum Corp or CNPC, the parent company of PetroChina Co Ltd, in a statement on last Wednesday.

The Chinese oil giant said that the 20 billion cu m of natural gas is equivalent to more than 17 metric tons of crude oil and could help reduce carbon dioxide emission by 48 million metric tons.

The natural gas from Central Asia has been supplied to 22 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China this year, compared to 16 states in 2010.

The National Development and Reform Commission said earlier that the country's imports of natural gas from Central Asia were 12.3 billion cu m in the first ten months of last year. China's total consumption of natural gas was 104.1 billion cu m from January to October, up 20.4% year on year.