Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping to discuss huge gas project at China summit

{"text":[[{"start":10.2,"text":"Vladimir Putin is to arrive in Beijing on Tuesday for talks he hopes will lead to a substantial increase in Russia’s energy exports to China, further boosting relations that the Kremlin says are already at “an unprecedentedly high level”."}],[{"start":25.049999999999997,"text":"Putin’s trip to China, which the foreign ministry in Beijing said would be his 25th to the country, highlights his close ties with Xi just days after Donald Trump made the first visit by a US president to China in nine years. "}],[{"start":39.15,"text":"The long-delayed 50bn cubic metre-a-year Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, intended to run east to China from Russian gasfields that once served Europe, would be a focus of “serious” and “very detailed” discussions between Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the Kremlin said."}],[{"start":57,"text":"Analysts said Russia’s growing economic troubles four years after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine made it more likely Putin and Xi would seal a deal to proceed with the PS2 pipeline, seen as Moscow’s only real chance to offset some of its lost exports to Europe."}],[{"start":73.4,"text":"Russia and China last September signed a “memorandum of construction” on the pipeline, after which Gazprom’s engineers began work on technical designs. But the two countries have remained deadlocked on the price Beijing would pay for the gas and the volume it would commit to buying. "}],[{"start":90.60000000000001,"text":"Putin said this month that Russia and China were close to making a “serious, very substantial step forward in oil and gas”, adding that he would be “very glad” if an agreement were finalised during the visit. "}],[{"start":103.95,"text":"“This is the best possible time for it — China needs it more than ever and Russia is in a . . . desperate situation seeking new sources of income,” according to Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":119.15,"text":"Russia is already China’s largest source of crude, accounting for 20 per cent of imports. China has in recent years also been the biggest buyer of Iranian crude. One-third of its oil and 25 per cent of its gas imports passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely closed since the start of the war."}],[{"start":138.6,"text":"The war in the Gulf had added impetus for China to diversify its energy supplies, said Vasily Kashin, a professor at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics. "}],[{"start":148.9,"text":"Disruption to supplies of oil from the Middle East caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran could also help outweigh Chinese concerns about becoming too dependent on Russian energy. With energy shortages growing, China reported a marked increase in inflation and an abrupt weakening of domestic economic activity in April. "}],[{"start":168.3,"text":"While Putin had told energy exporters to expand in Asian markets, Russia would not be able to fully substitute for China’s oil imports from the Middle East, Kashin said. "}],[{"start":178.20000000000002,"text":"A person familiar with the matter expressed doubts that China and Russia would reach an agreement on the price for the gas in the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline because Beijing was demanding a price similar to the heavily subsidised levels in the Russian domestic market."}],[{"start":192.70000000000002,"text":"China would also be concerned that gas usage has “peaked” and would balk at such a long-term commitment, the person said."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":200.20000000000002,"text":"The Kremlin said it had the “most serious expectations” for the visit, part of a rotating annual series of top-level meetings by Putin and Xi. The leaders also plan to meet three more times this year at multilateral summits."}],[{"start":213.85000000000002,"text":"Yuri Ushakov, the Russian president’s foreign policy adviser, told reporters that Russia and China’s foreign policy stances were “basically identical” and their relations were at an “unprecedentedly high level”."}],[{"start":226.20000000000002,"text":"The visit’s timing — just days after Trump left Beijing — was a coincidence, insisted Ushakov. He said Russia’s strong ties with China could help stabilise international affairs. "}],[{"start":237.25000000000003,"text":"“Against the backdrop of the crisis in the Middle East, Russia retains the role of a reliable supplier of energy resources, and China of a responsible consumer,” he said, according to Interfax."}],[{"start":249.65000000000003,"text":"The 39-strong Russian delegation is scheduled to hold talks with their Chinese counterparts on Wednesday, with Putin and Xi to sign about 40 documents before finishing with an informal meeting over tea to discuss global affairs."}],[{"start":263.05,"text":"Trump last week also sipped tea with Xi in the exclusive Zhongnanhai leadership compound in central Beijing before being given a tour of a garden in which, the Chinese leader said, he had previously hosted Putin."}],[{"start":277.40000000000003,"text":"Putin also plans to meet a Chinese engineer who posed for a photo with him as a 10-year-old boy during the Russian president’s first visit to China in 2000, an encounter intended to underscore his deep ties to the country."}],[{"start":291.00000000000006,"text":"China’s foreign ministry said Putin’s visit would be “an opportunity to continue promoting the development of China-Russia relations to a deeper level”. "}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":299.3500000000001,"text":"Russia and China’s relationship has strengthened in recent years, driven by the two countries’ mutual antipathy towards the US. "}],[{"start":307.6000000000001,"text":"Beijing has thrown Moscow an economic lifeline by increasing purchases of Russian energy and supplying vital components for Putin’s war effort, as well as helping Russia sidestep western sanctions aimed at cutting it off from global financial markets and supply chains."}],[{"start":324.4500000000001,"text":"Russia’s budget deficit has soared this year amid runaway inflation, the ballooning costs of the war on Ukraine and a 38 per cent year-on-year drop in energy export revenues. "}],[{"start":335.9500000000001,"text":"China has increased its imports of Russian oil by 35 per cent this year, while the countries’ total trade is up nearly 20 per cent in the same period to more than $85bn."}],[{"start":347.3000000000001,"text":"Gabuev said much of the growth probably resulted from Russia’s dependence on importing Chinese components for its war effort. "}],[{"start":354.7500000000001,"text":"“China is in a very advantageous position because Russia is forced to turn to it over and over again. It’s something indispensable,” he said."}],[{"start":363.9000000000001,"text":"Data visualisation by Haohsiang Ko in Hong Kong"}],[{"start":376.4500000000001,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779185287_2908.mp3"}