URUMQI, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities plan to build a long-distance power transmission line with the country's highest voltage level in far western Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line of plus/minus 1,100 kv -- so far the highest voltage level in China -- will start from a coal field in northern Xinjiang and end in southwestern metropolis of Chengdu, said Lu Jian, deputy director of the Development and Planning Department under the State Grid Corporation of China, at a meeting in Xinjiang's regional capital of Urumqi Friday.

About 35 billion yuan (5.6 billion U.S. dollars) will be put into the construction of the 2,600-km-long line, which will go through the vast regions of Xinjiang, Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan, Lu said.

The project is expected to begin in August and be put into operation in 2015, said Yang Qing, vice general manage of the State Grid.

China's large energy reserves are mostly distributed in the western and northern regions, which have a long distance of more than 2,000 km from the load centers of power network in eastern and central regions.

Compared with alternating current transmission technology, HVDC transmission excels in long distance, low loss and low cost, Lu said.

China has succeeded in building two long-distance HVDC transmission lines of plus/minus 800 kv and experts hope to upgrade the technology and equipment in the industry through the new Xinjiang project, he said.

It is predicted that 24 new HVDC transmission lines will be built in the next decade, with a total investment of close to 300 billion yuan, industrial researchers have said.