Construction of the middle part of the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline started on Thursday and is expected to be completed next October, according to China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the country's biggest oil and gas company.

The middle part of the project stretches from Jilin province to Hebei province. Upon completion, the pipeline is expected to ease the gas shortage in Northeast China and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

The China-Russia gas pipeline is expected to provide China with 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia annually.

The China-Russia East-Route natural gas pipeline makes up the eastern portion of Russia's "Power of Siberia" pipeline and runs from eastern Siberia to China.

With the project going into operation, Sinolink Securities' Resource and Environment Research Center said it expects Russia's share in China's gas market will increase.

CNPC has also signed an agreement with Novatek, Russia's top independent gas producer, in April, to buy a 10 percent stake in its new liquefied natural gas project, Arctic LNG 2, to increase gas supply in the country.