BEIJING - China's second east-west natural gas pipeline went into operation on Thursday.

The pipeline, connecting central Asia and China, will send natural gas from Turkmenistan to South China's Pearl River Delta after passing through 15 of the country's provinces.

The pipeline is the world's longest, with a total length of 8,700 km. The pipeline was built with 142.2 billion yuan ($21.98 billion) in investments.