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Russia, China close to $100 billion trade turnover

Putin says that the current volume of trade with China totaled $87 billion

© ITAR-TASS/EPA

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Putin calls Chinese leader "close friend", wishes success to China Olympic team

SOCHI, February 6. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that Moscow and Beijing largely contribute to assuring global development and security.

Putin said at a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday that “bilateral cooperation is expanding” and the two countries have almost reached the annual turnover target of $100 billion.

Putin recalled that the current volume of trade totaled $87 billion and “it is moving closer to the planned $100 billion.” There were plans earlier to achieve this figure by 2015 and by 2020, to make turnover reach $200 billion.

“Political contacts are expanding,” Putin said. “Five high-level meetings have been scheduled for this year.”

Natural gas deliveries to China

Russia and China may reach agreement on the price of natural gas by the end of May when Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to visit China, Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.

The Kremlin hopes Moscow and Beijing will be able to finalize the negotiations on pricing, he noted.

Peskov added that Putin is expected to visit Shanghai in spring.

CEO of Russia’s largest oil corporation Rosneft, Igor Sechin who took part in the negotiations said on his part that instructions had been issued to round up talks on the pricing of natural gas by May 2014.

“We will have an opportunity to discuss new projects and prepare for the signing of new agreements while preparing the Russian president’s visit to China due after May 20, 2014,” Sechin said.

Also, Russia and China may set up joint ventures to produce crude oil at Russian deposits, including those located on the continental shelf of Arctic Seas, Igor Sechin, the CEO of Russian oil corporation Rosneft said on Thursday.

Cooperation on political and security issues

The Russian president particularly stressed growing cooperation between the countries’ “security services and military, including those ensuring the removal of chemical weapons from Syria”.

“Russia and China make a significant contribution to global development and security,” Putin said.

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Removal of chemical weapons from Syria drags out for an indefinite time

Russian and Chinese naval task forces participate in the international operation to dispose of Syria's chemical stockpiles for its further destruction. Russia’s missile cruiser The Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great) along with a Chinese frigate, Yan Cheng, will escort other ships taking Syria’s chemical weapons out of the war-torn country.

This kind of cooperation is the two countries’ first experience of military interaction not in the course of exercises, but in a real operation run by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

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