BEIJING, Nov. 9, 2009 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Construction of a large-scale oil port in the Myanmar city of Kyaukpyu as a facility for the planned China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline project has started, China Jinghua News quoted an insider from China National Offshore Oil Corporation (NYSE:CEO) (CNOOC) as saying, October 8.

Accordingly, Kyaukpyu is poised to become the import terminal for Middle East and African tankers' supply of oil to China. The oil will then flow from Kyaukpyu through a 771-kilometer line across Myanmar to Ruili in China's Yunnan province. The line is set to have an annual transport capacity of 12 million tons after the construction's first-phase.

Currently, about 80 percent of China's imported oil must be shipped through the Malacca Strait. If any accident occurs during the transport, the country's domestic oil supply will be shaken. Thus, China has been determined to diversify its oil import routes due to supply security concerns.