Leaders of Russian gas giant Gazprom and China's National Energy Company CNPC have just discussed gas supplies from Russia to China within the framework of a meeting in Beijing, Gazprom announced on July 11.
According to TASS news agency, Gazprom General Director Alexei Miller and CNPC Chairman Dai Houliang held a meeting in Beijing to discuss projects to supply gas from Russia to China.
Gazprom said the Far East route project is on track. In June 2025, Gazprom, CNPC and Pipe China signed cooperation agreements during the operation and exploitation phase of the Ussuri River gas pipeline. The first gas supply is expected to start in 2027.
During the talks, Alexei Miller and Dai Houliang paid special attention to gas supply projects to serve the growing needs of the Chinese economy.
Gazprom stressed that in the long term, gas demand in China will continue to increase strongly. According to forecasts from some Chinese research institutes, the country's gas consumption could reach 600-650 billion cubic meters in the period of 2035-2040.
"Both sides have mutually beneficial cooperation between Gazprom and its Chinese partners based on a real awareness of the present and future of the global energy market. Reliable traditional energy sources will still play an important role in the long term. Of which, gas is the cleanest and most effective source. I believe that in the coming decades, gas will make a great contribution to helping China achieve its environmental and economic growth goals," said Miller.
Since the conflict in Ukraine broke out in February 2022, Russia, the country with the world's largest gas reserves, has shifted oil exports from Europe to India and China. However, the process of diversifying gas supply via pipelines from the EU to Asian markets is taking place more slowly.
Russia began exporting gas to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline in late 2019 and is expected to reach a maximum capacity of 38 billion cubic meters per year this year.
The two countries have also agreed a plan to export an additional 10 billion cubic meters of Russian gas from Sakhalin Island to China starting in 2027.
However, after years of negotiations, the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline project, which is expected to transport 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year to China via Mongolia, has yet to reach a final agreement due to disagreements on gas prices and some other issues.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit China in early September. The trip comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Moscow in May.
