President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China and President Vladimir Putin of Russia concluded on Sunday night another round of deals that pertain to the energy sector.
The two heads witnessed the signing of 16 agreements in Beijing, including one to expedite the early start of the construction of the west route of the China-Russia natural gas pipeline, according to a report from Asia One.
The natural gas pipeline, which is expected to be completed in 2020, will reportedly provide 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year for 30 years from West Serbia to China through the Altai area of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Once construction of the delivery route is completed, China will become Russia's biggest gas customer.
Back in May, a related deal was closed for the construction of the east route of the China-Russia gas pipeline, through which Russia's state-owned Gazprom will be exporting 38 billion cubic meters of gas a year for 30 years to China. This will be sourced from its gas fields in eastern Siberia starting 2018, according to a report from Foreign Policy.
Another deal signed Sunday is an agreement for state-owned China National Petroleum Corp. to purchase a 10-percent share of Vankorneft, a subsidiary of the Russian oil giant Rosneft, which will reportedly be supplying China with $7-billion worth of oil each year, sources told Asia One.
Xi and Putin both agreed that energy cooperation is crucial for the energy security of their respective countries.
Putin said: "Cooperation between China and Russia is utterly important in order to keep the world within the limits of international law, to make it more stable, more predictable."
Xi added that their countries should give priority to bilateral ties no matter "how the international clouds change."