BEIJING (AFP) -- China's planning ministry has approved an oil pipeline linking Myanmar's deep-water port of Sittwe to Kunming in the landlocked southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, state press said Monday.

The National Development and Reform Commission gave the green light to the project at the beginning of April, the China Business newspaper reported, citing official sources.

The long-expected pipeline would provide an alternative route for China's crude imports from the Middle East and Africa and help reduce its dependence on traffic through the Strait of Malacca.

The paper did not give the cost or the capacity of the pipeline but said construction was slated to begin this year.

It could also serve as a conduit to transport crude to China's populous inland provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan and the Chongqing municipality.