SINGAPORE, Aug 29 (Reuters) - China's privately controlled Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Co Ltd has won regulatory approval to start building a 30 billion yuan ($4.23 billion) petrochemical complex in east China to process ethane from the United States, a company official said on Thursday.

Zhejiang Satellite will start in September building a 1.25 million tonnes per year (tpy) ethylene plant in Lianyungang in the Jiangsu province, which will use U.S. ethane, a byproduct from shale gas, as feedstock, Ding Liping, an investor relation officer, told Reuters over phone.

"This is the company's phase-one investment for a total of 2.5 million tonnes per year ethylene production facilities that will process fully U.S. ethane," said Ding, adding that the mechanical construction for phase-one facilities is slated for completion by August next year.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

((aizhu.chen@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6870 3284; Reuters Messaging: aizhu.chen.reuters.com@reuters.net))

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