BOAO, April 21. /TASS/. China expects positive changes and intensification of the scale of cooperating with Russian in the oil and gas sphere, Chairman of the China National Petroleum Corporation Dai Houliang says on Wednesday.

"Cooperation with Russia has always been an important component of China’s interaction in the energy sphere with other countries. Scales of our joint activity in this area are steadily growing. I am confident there will be growth in this year and in subsequent ones," Dai Houliang said during the Economic Forum for Asia in Boao.

Companies from the Chinese energy sector remain fairly optimistic as regards interaction with Russia, Assistant CEO of CNPC Li Yueqiang told TASS. "We cooperate in Yamal and in the Arctic and believe interaction is progressing successfully," he said.

According to China’s Customs Office data, Russia ranked second after Saudi Arabia in terms of oil supplies to China 2020.