The first LNG receiving terminal funded by a domestic private enterprise will start construction of its submarine pipelines this year in Zhejiang province, and upon completion, it will reach an annual handling capacity of 3 million metric tons in 2020, said CEO of ENN Group.

"Construction of the offshore pipelines of the Zhoushan LNG receiving terminal will start this year. The first phase of the receiving terminal has a handling capacity of 3 million tons, and will expand to 10 million tons in 2022," said ENN Chief Executive Officer Zhang Yesheng.

According to Zhang, since last October when the first-phase receiving terminal started operation, more than 300,000 tons of LNG have been received. The project could better serve as the gateway for linking China's gas market and overseas supplies upon completion.

Its first phase involves an investment of 5.8 billion yuan ($863 million), and the second phase has an investment of 2.4 billion yuan.

"Zhoushan LNG receiving terminal is China's first large LNG receiving terminal invested by a private enterprise. It serves as an important hub for connecting the domestic market and international resources," said Zhang.

The project looks to create an LNG value chain in Zhoushan and is responsible for LNG receiving, unloading, storage, send-out, diversion, sea and river intermodal transport, LNG bunkering, and cold energy utilization.

Backed by the Yangtze River Delta market, along with its shoreline, sea route, and access to inland provinces, the terminal has a great location advantage and is hoped to leverage its location advantage to further expand its transaction volume.

China imported more than 53 million tons of LNG last year, reaching a new historic high by accounting for 60 percent of the nation's total natural gas imports, said Zhang Jianhua, head of the National Energy Administration, during the opening ceremony of LNG2019, which ended on Friday.

Emerging as the world's fastest growing market for LNG imports, China for the first time hosted the 50-year-old event, which attracted almost all the heads of major industrial leading players in the global LNG market, according to Zhang from ENN.

China has built 21 LNG receiving terminals across the nation, with an annual receiving capacity of more than 80 million tons. Among them, 10 receiving terminals have been built by China National Offshore Oil Corp, with a combined receiving capacity of 45.2 million tons, said CNOOC Chairman Yang Hua.

CNOOC is continuously expanding its existing receiving terminals and has more new LNG receiving terminals in the pipeline, added Yang.

LNG trading will develop further in the direction of larger volumes, shorter contracts, more flexible trades and lower prices in the coming years. Global LNG trade volume is projected to reach more than 500 billion cubic meters by 2023, around 30 percent more than in 2017, according to Yang.

Currently, the combined LNG trade volume of China, Japan and South Korea stands at around 180 million tons, accounting for 56 percent of the global LNG trade volume, and their total stake is projected to reach 70 percent, said Zhang with ENN.

By joining forces with existing LNG receiving terminals in Ningbo and Wenzhou in Zhejiang province and Yangshan in Shanghai, an LNG gateway would be formed to link the Chinese consumer market and global resources, which can enable the Zhoushan receiving terminal to become part of the LNG pricing index covering Northeast Asia.

In addition to the Zhoushan receiving terminal, ENN is also looking for other opportunities in other coastal areas, added Zhang.