BEIJING, October 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin will take part in the fifth round of Russian-Chinese energy talks in China's capital Beijing on Sunday.
Igor Sechin will discuss energy issues with his Chinese counterpart Wang Qishan.
"Russian-Chinese energy cooperation, which is a key aspect of bilateral strategic partnership, has moved to a new level and meets with interests and intentions of the two countries," Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya said prior to Sechin's visit to Beijing.
Following the meeting, Russian energy giant Gazprom and Chinese energy corporation CNPC may sign an agreement on natural gas supplies from Russia to China, the Russian company's press service said. A relevant document was initialed in Russia's Siberian city of Tomsk in late September.
A memorandum on Russian-Chinese cooperation in the natural gas sphere was signed in June, during Chinese President Hu Jintao's official visit to Russia.
In April, during the fourth round of the Russian-Chinese energy talks in Beijing the two countries signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the oil sphere, which is to be in force for the next 23 years.
In October 2008, Russia and China reached an agreement to build a Chinese leg of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline, which is designed to pump up to 1.6 million barrels of crude per day from Siberia to Russia's Far East and to energy-hungry China and the Asia-Pacific region. The construction is underway and is expected to be completed by late 2010.
Russia and China are members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), founded in 2001, together with ex-Soviet Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
A meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of heads of government will take place in Beijing on October 14. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will take part in the meeting.
