BEIJING, March 22 (RIA Novosti) - A meeting of the Russian and Chinese deputy prime ministers rounded off Wednesday an economic forum in Beijing as part of President Vladimir Putin's two-day official visit to China.
The meeting was held jointly by Russia's economics ministry and China's commerce ministry and focused on four areas identified as key to future bilateral cooperation: trade in machinery and equipment, energy, banking and finance, and the IT sector.
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's first deputy prime minister, hailed the forum's results.
"Meetings [on the sidelines of the forum] resulted in either agreements being signed yesterday and today or in making a decision to continue discussions," said Medvedev, who has been touted as a presidential candidate in 2008. Some 30 contracts worth billions of dollars were signed in Beijing Tuesday.
Energy was a central issue at Beijing talks both for Russia, which is seeking to diversify export routes, and increasingly energy-hungry China.
Russian natural gas monopolist Gazprom and energy giant China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed a memorandum on cooperation, thereby launching more specific talks on construction of two gas pipelines from West and East Siberia East to China to deliver 30-40 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year each.
Russia's focus on east-bound supplies is seen by some experts as response to European pressure and plans to deter Russia's growing presence on local gas markets by searching for other delivery options.
State-owned oil company Rosneft, which plans to contribute to oil deliveries to China via a pipeline to be built from East Siberia, signed an agreement with the CNPC to open two joint ventures in Russia and China by the end of the year. Russia's second largest oil producer also intends to open a chain of gasoline stations in the country.
At the same time, the Russian delegation accompanying Putin focused on efforts to diversify Russian exports to China, which are dominated by raw materials.
"We would like machinery and IT products to play a more prominent role [in the exports]," Medvedev said.
He also highlighted the two countries' ambition to increase trade from $30 billion in 2005 to $60-80 billion by 2010, as well as to up Chinese investment in the Russian economy to $12 billion.
