MOSCOW: Chinese President Xi Jinping expects the Russia-Mongolia-China gas pipeline project to start making headway very soon, Russian News Agency TASS reported.
Xi made the remarks during talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing.
“China hopes that the Russia-Mongolia-China gas pipeline project will make headway very soon,” he was quoted as saying by the country’s central television.
Xi Jinping also expressed hope that cross-border tourism cooperation will expand within the framework of the Great Tea Road project and also that the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor will facilitate the development of high-quality transport links, according to TASS.
Meanwhile, TASS recently reported that construction of the Mongolian portion of Russia’s planned new Power of Siberia-2 gas pipeline to China may start in the first quarter or first half of 2024, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko.
Russia has been in talks for years about building the Power of Siberia-2 to bring 50 billion cubic metres of gas a year from northern Russia to China via Mongolia. But agreement on key issues including pricing remains elusive, according to TASS.
Russia currently exports gas to China through the Power of Siberia 1 pipeline, via which it aims to raise supplies to 38 bcm annually by 2025.
Russian President Putin recently attended the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Putin attended the official meeting ceremony with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan.
Sharing it on their social media ‘X’, formerly known as Twitter, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed his visit to the forum. Xinping greeted President Putin on his arrival, following which the two leaders held a brief conversation. (ANI)