(Photo : Natural Gas Pipelines)

China will see a sharp increase in natural gas production triggered by the country's huge demand and will become third-largest natural gas producer in 2035.

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This was announced by the International Gas Union (IGU) during the 2013 China International Pipeline Conference in Langfang City, Hebei Province on Thursday.

China will follow Russia and the United States in natural gas production due to the increase in demand for natural gas.

55,000 Kilometers of Natural Gas Pipelines

In 2012, China's natural gas production volume went up 6.7 per cent year on year to 106.7 billion cubic meters. The country now has more than 55,000 kilometers of natural gas pipelines across the country.

The government has also allocated CNY460 billion, or some $75 billion, to finance its plan of building 65,00 kilometers of petroleum pipelines in the country. The funding also includes 41,000 kilometers of additional natural gas pipelines.

As this developed, Zhang Xiaogiang of China's National Development and Reform Commission said the country will become the world's top solar energy producer, overtaking Germany, this year.

China's Solar Power Generation To Overtake Germany

At the sidelines of the Summer Davos Forum, Zhang said China's solar power generating capacity will surpass 10 gigawatts this year to pass what Germany is expected to generate.

Zhang said the government is initiating measures to expand the domestic market in order to address the problem of overcapacity in the domestic solar panel sector.

Earlier, the US Energy Information Agency said China could become the biggest importer of oil, overtaking the US, as the agency expects the country's monthly net oil imports to be higher than those of the US starting October.

The EIA said rising demand and the increased oil production in the US will make China as the world's largest net oil importer. China's imminent emergence as the biggest oil importer will also be driven by the fact that the US could become energy independent by 2030 and will become the biggest producer in 2020.