BEIJING, November 29. /TASS/. The Chinese government recognizes the importance of investing in joint energy projects with Russia and plans to ensure the development of cooperation in this area through active financing, First Vice Premier of the State Council, Han Zheng, said on Thursday.
"It is crucial to provide active financial assistance because long-term energy projects require large-scale investments. It is extremely vital to promote our cooperation in the "energy industry-financing" format, ensure the involvement of financial structures in the entire project chain, and find new models of financing," he stated, addressing the 1st Russian-Chinese Energy Forum, which is being held in Beijing. "The Chinese side supports searching for an even more important role of financial institutions in this direction."
To do this, the Chinese government will exploit the potential of such large national financial institutions as China Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank, Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Silk Road Fund, and the Russia-China Investment Fund for Regional Development, the Vice Premier emphasized.
Han Zheng also noted that financing should coincide with the process of the creation of unified standards. "It is important to work on mutual recognition of energy standards based on the standardization in the oil and gas and energy sectors in order to develop more favorable conditions for cooperation," he stressed.
The 1st Russian-Chinese Energy Forum is held in Beijing with roughly 300 representatives of Russian and Chinese energy companies participating in the event. Several roundtable meetings on coal and electric power, and the oil and gas sector will be convened as part of the forum.
During an official visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to China in June 2018, the heads of state had agreed to organize the Russian-Chinese Energy Forum. The decision to hold it was announced in August following the meeting of the Presidential Fuel and Energy Commission. This platform "will make it possible to expand cooperation between the two countries, find new areas of mutual investments, and launch promising projects in the energy sector," Putin emphasized.".