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Medvedev meets Chinese Premier in Beijing
October 22, 2013, 6:29 am

Russia has switched its energy exports from west to east pulling oil supplies out of Europe and into Asia [Xinhua]

Russia has switched its energy exports from west to east pulling oil supplies out of Europe and into Asia [Xinhua]

Energy cooperation, trade and investment were discussed by the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and visiting Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday.

Li and Medvedev co-chaired the 18th China-Russia heads of government meet in Beijing today.

Li and Medvedev will witness the signing of an array of documents and meet the press together.

The summit, launched in December 1996, has become an important platform to outline cooperation between the two countries.

Russia and China have set a bilateral trade target of $100 billion by 2015 and $200 billion by 2020.

This is the first meeting between the Chinese premier and the Russian prime minister since China’s new government took office in March.

Ahead of Medvedev’s visit, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) last week signed an agreement with Russia’s state-owned oil company Rosneft to tap oil reserves in eastern Siberia.

Russia is the world’s top oil producer while China is the biggest oil importer.

Russia and China signed a $270 billion oil deal in June this year which is likely to make Moscow China’s biggest energy supplier.

The deal was described by Russian President Vladimir Putin as an “unprecedented contract”.

Russia has switched its energy exports from west to east pulling oil supplies out of Europe and into Asia.

Meanwhile, Medvedev arrived in Beijing early Tuesday for a two-day official visit to China.

During his stay in Beijing, he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and other leaders.

Apart from Beijing, he will also visit east China’s Anhui Province.

With inputs from Agencies