Russia becomes leading gas supplier to China - Putin in conversation with Xi

MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax) - Russia has become the leading natural gas supplier to China, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"China is a major consumer of Russian energy resources. We retain the first place in terms of the volume of oil exports to China. Five years ago, you and I together launched the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, and today, Russia has taken the lead in natural gas supplies to China," Putin said.

The Power of Siberia pipeline reached a planned level of 38 billion cubic meters of annual gas supply on December 1, 2024, one month ahead of the target.

"The eastern route of the Russian-Chinese pipeline was brought to full capacity ahead of the planned date," Xi said in commenting on this fact.

Gazprom started supplying gas via Power of Siberia from the Chayanda field in Yakutia in 2019. The Kovykta field in the Irkutsk region was connected to the system in 2022.

Gazprom became the leading supplier of pipeline gas to China back in early 2024, regularly surpassing Turkmenistan, the previous leader. Russia has also regularly been number one in terms of aggregate shipments of pipeline and liquefied natural gas to China in that country's customs statistics. The latest available reports show that Russian gas accounted for over 25% of China's gas imports in October and November 2024.

According to the Chinese General Administration of Customs' data, Russia also retained its status as the leading oil exporter to China in 2024 by shipping a record 108.47 million tonnes of oil to the country. Russia accounts for nearly 20% in the general structure of China's oil imports.