URUMQI - Natural gas imports to China through Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region have grown this year, local customs said.

As of the end of August, more than 16.75 million tons of natural gas had been imported through Xinjiang this year, up 15.58 percent year on year. Trade volume totaled 28.1 billion yuan (about $4.5 billion).

Eighty percent of the imported gas came from Turkmenistan, and the rest was imported from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia.

More than 99 percent arrived through gas pipelines, and the rest was transported through highway and rail routes.

The China-Central Asia Gas Pipeline, which started operating in 2009, has delivered 108 million tons of gas to date, customs figures showed.

The project, which has three lines in operation, are China's first major energy cooperation project in central Asia, stretching from Turkmenistan across Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to China.

Customs officials said the growth in natural gas imports can be attributed to multiple cooperation projects between China and Central Asia under the Belt and Road initiative.

The initiative includes the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, which make up a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes.