Abstract: The standby compressor scheme of natural gas pipeline systems in China is mostly based on the Unit operation experience, the applicability analysis results of compressor itself, and the analysis results of hydraulic systems and economy, doesn't consider the influence of the other parts of the system. In this paper, the system reliability analysis method was adopted in order to reflect fully the influence of the standby scheme on the whole pipeline system. The north section of China-Russia Eastern Gas Pipeline was taken as the example to predict three standby compressor schemes at different throughout with the production availability as the objective value, i.e., setting standby units at the compressor station, setting no standby units and setting standby units every two stations along the whole line. It is shown that under the designed throughout, the scheme setting standby units at the compressor station and the one setting standby units every second station along the whole line can satisfy the designed transportation task and their production availability is greater than 1. Based on the comprehensive comparison, it is recommended to apply the standby compressor scheme of setting standby units every second station to the north section of China-Russia Eastern Gas Pipeline. The scheme can reduce the investment in pipeline system and optimize investment return.