BEIJING, November 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's major state-owned savings bank, Sberbank, has asked several Chinese banks for loans to finance large investment projects in Russia, a senior Sberbank official said Wednesday.

Sberbank Board Vice Chair Alexander Zakharov told a press conference in the Chinese capital that earlier this year, the bank had signed an agreement with Sinosure, China's only export credit insurance corporation.

He said the deal made it possible to fund the short-term commercial transactions of Russian companies and to invest in projects run by Sberbank's corporate clients to buy equipment from China.

It was with this agreement in mind that Sberbank suggested Chinese banks provide lines of credit guaranteed by Sinosure, Zakharov said.

Chinese investment in the Russian economy is expected to reach $12 billion by 2020, the Sberbank official said, adding that the investment boom could be accompanied by substantial improvement in the terms of Chinese credit lines.