China and Russia on Wednesday reached a huge gas supply deal worth $400 billion (290 billion euros) over 30 years, according to Russian media, and one that has been a decade in the making.
The amount of gas covered by the deal however is almost half that previously sought.
While Russia is a big trading partner with mainland China, ranking 10th according to the China Daily newspaper which cited January figures by the General Administration of Custom, it trails far behind countries such as the United States, Japan and South Korea.
China on the other hand already stands as Russia’s number two trading partner behind the EU on a 2013 World Trade Organisation (WTO) ranking.
Economic ties between the two countries have grown steadily amid strains between both countries and the European Union and United States.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in Shanghai that he wanted to boost bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2015, from $90 billion in 2013.
