Chinese Ambassador: Beijing hopes for Russia's investment climate improvement
MOSCOW. Oct 8 (Interfax) - Chinese Ambassador in Moscow Li Hui hopes Russia's investment climate will improve and direct investment of Chinese energy companies in the Russian economy will grow.
"I hope for an improvement of the investment climate in Russia and a growth in direct investment of Chinese energy companies in Russia," the ambassador said in an interview with Interfax and the Chinese media ahead of a Russian visit of Chinese State Council Premier Li Keqiang.
"In turn, the Chinese side welcomes investment of Russian companies in the PRC," the Chinese diplomat added.
"As of now, the main problem is the comparatively low level of direct investment of both sides in the energy sector, which is incomparable with the scope of bilateral trade in energy resources," he continued.
"The potential of investment in energy projects is far from been revealed to a sufficient degree," Li underscored.
Speaking of Russia-China energy cooperation in general, the diplomat pointed to a positive trend in its development.
"In 2013, China imported from Russia 24.35 million tonnes of crude, 27.28 million tonnes of coal and 3.5 billion kilowatt/hours of electricity. The first stage of the Tianwan NPP (the first and second units), which is the largest economic and technological project of our countries for now, has been started up. The construction of the second stage, the third and fourth units, has begun," he said.
"Agreements regarding a number of large projects of China-Russia cooperation were signed in May of this year in Shanghai, during a meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), in the presence of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin. For instance, a sales and purchase agreement was signed between CNPC and Russia's Gazprom , according to which Russia committed to supply natural gas to China along the eastern route for 30 years," the ambassador said.
"Novatek and CNPC signed a contract on the annual delivery of 3 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to China. The sides also reached an understanding about the Tianjin refinery project," Li added.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said earlier that Chinese State Council Premier Li Keqiang would visit Moscow in October to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and to attend the Open Innovations Forum to be held on October 14-16.
The full text of the interview will be posted on the Interfax website (www.interfax.ru).