Russia, China to Cooperate in Gas and Energy

As Alexander Yakovenko, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry of Russia said today during a press conference, 'Russian-Chinese relations are developing dynamically and rest on a strong legal and organizational foundation of bilateral cooperation.' Mr. Yakovenko also said that Russia had closely followed the developments at the 16th Congress of the Communist Party of China and that 'Moscow is satisfied with the confirmation by the congress of the invariable character of Russian-Chinese relationship. The pending high-level contacts will allow to discuss the principal objectives as to the furthering of bilateral cooperation between our two countries, with the results of the congress in mind. A considerable role will be played by the full-scale carrying out of the Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation signed on July 16, 2001.'

Mr. Yakovenko also said that trade turnover between Russia and China, over the year 2001, had increased by 25% to the worth of over USD 10 billion. Large joint project in gas and energy are of special significance. These include the development of the Kovytin gas field and the one in the Republic of Sakha, Yakutiya, the construction of an oil pipeline between Russia and China and the West-East gas pipeline. Also very significant is cooperation in the production of energy and military technologies.

President of Russia, Vladimir Putin is, at this time, in China with a working visit.