During Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trip to China, Russia as well as China went on to agree to move forward with a new China-Russia gas pipeline, said Gazprom, underscoring the growing economic as well as the energy ties between the two nations.
Alexei Miller, the CEO of Gazprom, which happens to be the largest energy firm in Russia, went on to confirm on September 2 that a legally binding memorandum has already been signed so as to develop the China-Russia gas pipeline.
It is well to be noted that the long-planned Power of Siberia 2 could as well carry another 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas per year from the Arctic Yamal fields of Russia to China through Mongolia.
Miller went on to state that the deliveries through the present Power of Siberia pipeline that comes from eastern Siberia to China would also increase to 44 bcm every year, up from 38 bcm.
The deal would also go on to deepen the energy options of Beijing while at the same time decreasing the dependence on liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports coming from the US.
Unmatched Levels of Ties
This announcement went on to follow high-profile meetings that were held between President Xi Jinping from China and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which the Russian leader went ahead and acknowledged Beijing’s unprecedented ties with his country.
Apparently, Xi also went on to host other dozens of world leaders, which included the likes of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation–SCO summit in Tianjin. Xi, who went on to tout the security bloc as an alternative choice to the Western-led international order, went on to urge the regional leaders to oppose the Cold War mentality in a reference to the US.
It is worth noting that Beijing and Washington have not yet agreed to a trade deal in spite of several rounds of talks that have taken place.
In one of the interviews on the Scott Jennings Radio Show, the US President Donald Trump remarked that he is not bothered at all by the axis that is forming against the US by the likes of China and Russia.
But the pricing for the new route is still unsettled. Miller went on to say that the negotiations when it comes to costs would be handled in a separate way, a sticking point as Russia looks forward to offsetting the loss of its European gas market, while China is looking forward to getting discounts.
Speaking to Reuters, the head of China Energy Research at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Michal Meidan, said that the announcements pertaining to the Power of Siberia 2 are indeed a huge turning point when it comes to the geopolitics of energy. Apparently, the message is that China is no longer going ahead and even pretending to comply with the US sanctions or even, for that matter, caring about what the West goes on to think, and the fact is that it is not alone.
Economic ties that are deepening
Interestingly, China has already gone ahead and received the liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments coming from the sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project of Russia, therefore signaling the readiness to defy the pressure of the West.
Notably, the trade between Moscow and Beijing has seen a growth to $240bn in 2023, and this indeed highlighted their deepening collaboration since the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war.
According to the Kremlin officials, 22 agreements have already been inked during the ongoing trip of Putin, which includes the likes of a strategic cooperation pact between China National Petroleum Corporation and also Gazprom, although no details have been provided as yet.
According to Moscow’s China and Contemporary Asia Institute, Kirill Babaev, the big deal is finally under way as the political negotiations are over, and there are now commercial tasks that are going to bring the results, with blessings of leaders from Russia, China, and also Mongolia.
