BEIJING - Chinese planners have approved construction of a multibillion-dollar pipeline to carry gas imported from Turkmenistan to China's southern business center of Guangzhou, a news report said Wednesday.

The pipeline will be able to carry some 30 billion cubic meters (1 trillion cubic feet) of gas a year from the Central Asian nation, Dow Jones Newswires said, citing an unidentified person familiar with the plan.

It cited the source as saying the pipeline's cost could run into tens of billions of dollars.

The project would double the capacity of an existing pipeline that carries gas from the Xinjiang region of China's northwest to Shanghai on the east coast, Dow Jones said.

China signed a deal in April to buy gas from Turkmenistan, but didn't release price details.

China is trying to expand use of natural gas to reduce reliance on dirtier oil and coal. It also is discussing with Russia the construction of a pipeline to deliver Siberian gas to northern China.