“There will be LNG terminals in Guangdong, Fujian, Shandong and Shanghai [and CMG] has teamed up with the COSCO group and other firms to form a company to operate the LNG tankers [that will service them],” said Qin.

The tankers will be sourced – at a cost of around US$160 million each – locally. The first two tankers are being built by a JV between China’s Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group and Chantiers de I'Atlantique of France.

“Ten tankers is not a lot but we need [government] approval for each project,” said Qin.