Premier Li Keqiang seals deals with 'strategic partner' Russia
Agreements run gamut from energy to transport and come as relations between Moscow and European Union worsen to post-cold war low
China and Russia cemented more than 40 cooperation deals yesterday after talks between Premier Li Keqiang and his Russian counterpart.
The deals cover nuclear energy, financing, transport, communications and tourism, and come as Russia struggles with its most serious stand-off with the West since the cold war.
Russian gas exporter Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp had also begun talks on natural gas deliveries via a West Route pipeline, which will connect gas deposits in western Serbia and the northwestern part of China through Russia's Altai region, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky said.
Gazprom and CNPC agreed in May on a US$400 billion natural gas deal that will see Russia supplying China with 38 billion cubic metres of gas annually starting from 2019.
In his talks with Li, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev described the relationship between the two nations as a strategic partnership.
"We have a very ambitious agenda. We are to talk in an expanded format and also take part in the signing of a great amount of documents drafted in preparation for the visit," he was quoted by Russia's TASS news agency as saying.
Li also met Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin and said the strategic partnership between the two countries was expanding. "China is willing to launch deep and comprehensive cooperation and exchange with Russia to push forward the development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership," he was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
