World
  |
|
China's Hu on Russian energy expedition
By Stephen Boykewich
AFP
MOSCOW
Petroleumworld.com 03 28 07Chinese President Hu Jintao was to open a giant trade fair alongside Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the second day of a visit intended to boost energy shipments and push trade to new highs.
Hu met Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov before opening China's biggest-ever trade fair in a foreign country, where nearly 200 Chinese companies are showcasing their products in a show of the growing economic ties between the neighboring countries.
The Chinese president accomplished part of his mission when his visit started on Monday, winning an agreement for increased deliveries of Russian oil by rail.
Those oil exports to China should jump from the 11 million tonnes shipped in 2006 to 15 million tonnes per year, Russian Railways head Vladimir Yakunin told reporters.
Energy-hungry China received a total of 15 million tonnes of Russian oil last year, and analysts say it is eager to secure guarantees for more.
The two presidents underlined their energy interdependence in a joint declaration pledging to further develop oil, gas and electricity ties with "large bilateral cooperation projects in the energy sphere."
Hu continues his energy quest Tuesday evening with a visit to Tatarstan, a mainly Muslim province in central Russia that has extensive oil reserves. The Chinese president will meet there on Wednesday with the region's leader Mintimir Shaimiyev.
New deals in other sectors should include plans to build a 300-million-dollar Chinese business center in Moscow and a contract to deliver 100,000 tonnes of Russian steel products worth about 500 million dollars by 2011, business daily Vedomosti reported Tuesday.
Agreements have already been signed between Russian and Chinese banks and space agencies. Russian media earlier reported that deals worth four billion dollars would be signed during Hu's visit.In their talks on Tuesday, Prime Minister Fradkov proposed more frequent meetings to pave the way for increased trade.
The Chinese president was set to meet with Boris Gryzlov, speaker of the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, in the afternoon.
Hu and Putin talked up strong diplomatic ties between their countries, which have taken closely aligned positions in talks meant to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and stem Iran's nuclear ambitions.
"Russia and China emphasise that the problem of Iran's nuclear programme should be resolved exclusively in a peaceful way, through negotiations," Monday's joint declaration said.
"Russia and China will make every effort to ensure the rapid start of negotiations and to find a long-term, all-encompassing and mutually acceptable resolution to the Iranian nuclear problem," the declaration continued.
The two leaders also welcomed the "positive dynamic" in six-party talks in Beijing aimed at curbing North Korea's nuclear programme and called for a "full and all-encompassing solution."Hu said ahead of the trip, his third to Russia since becoming president, that the visit would cement economic and diplomatic relations that have grown significantly since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Among the possible sources of discord, though, were Russian concerns about China's space ambitions, Chinese worries about the quality of Russian arms imports, and delays in building a Russian oil pipeline branch to the Chinese city of Daqing, business daily Kommersant said.
Both sides said bilateral trade jumped over the past year, though their statistics differed: China said trade grew 15 percent in 2006, while Russia said trade grew 43 percent over the same period.
AFP 27 0720 GMT 03 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
Your
feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us
their views and comments about this article.
Write to editor@petroleumworld.com
Any
question or suggestions, please write to:
editor@petroleumworld.com
Best
Viewed with IE
5.01+
Windows
NT 4.0, '95, '98 and ME +/ 800x600 pixels