China will surpass Japan as Asia's largest natural gas importer through a combination of LNG and pipeline gas in 5-10 years, according to FACTS Global Energy Group in an August report.China began importing gas by pipeline from Turkmenistan on the last day of 2009, becoming the first Asian country to import both LNG and pipeline gas. "Also in 2009, China surpassed Japan to be Asia's largest natural gas market. Most importantly, China is on the way to becoming a giant international player for natural gas in terms of consumption as well as imports," said Kang Wu, a managing director at FACTS Global Energy, Honolulu. Japan will remain the world's largest importer of LNG, Wu said.In ...