DUSHANBE, September 11. /ITAR-TASS/. President of Russia Vladimir Putin said on Thursday he expected the construction of the China-bound gas pipeline to be effective both from the Russian and Chinese sides.

Putin made his statement at a meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Dushanbe.

Putin said he was meeting with the Chinese leader for the fourth time this year and the parties always had something to talk about. “Our interstate relations are developing actively and consistently,” Putin said.

Russia and China are promoting a number of large projects, opening new prospects and possibilities, the Russian president said. “Quite recently, we started the implementation of a new and very large project in the Russian Far East,” Putin said.

Putin gave start on September 1 to the construction of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline intended to pump natural gas to the Russian Far East and China. “Now we have switched to the project’s practical implementation and I’m confident that this will be carried out in a businesslike manner and highly efficiently by both parties,” Putin said.

Russian energy giant Gazprom and China’s CNPC signed a $400 billion contract in May 2014 for the delivery of 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China annually for a period of 30 years.

The creation of a new gas pipeline system in China will “help both Chinese provinces and the Russian Far East in solving many problems,” Putin said.

Russia and China are also actively cooperating in other areas, such as energy, aviation equipment and infrastructure, Putin said.