China Confirms Power Of Siberia Gas Pipeline To Be Launched In December

China Confirms Power of Siberia Gas Pipeline to Be Launched in December

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang confirmed on Tuesday that the Power of Siberia pipeline would be launched at a solemn ceremony in December to mark the start of gas supplies from Russia to China

BEIJING (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th November, 2019) Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang confirmed on Tuesday that the Power of Siberia pipeline would be launched at a solemn ceremony in December to mark the start of gas supplies from Russia to China.

On Monday, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, would hold a video conference in December to officiate the launch of gas supplies from Russia to China via the pipeline's eastern route.

"Gas supplies via the eastern route of the Power of Siberia pipeline is a project that has been coordinated by the leaders of the two states personally. It is a strategic project of the Russian-Chinese cooperation in the energy realm. It has an exceptionally important significance for the enhancement of the comprehensive cooperation. In this regard, a formal ceremony will be held to mark the end of the construction," Geng said at a press briefing.

Russia's Gazprom signed a 30-year deal with China's gas corporation CNPC in 2014 to deliver an annual 1.3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas via the Power of Siberia pipeline starting December 2019. In late October, Gazprom announced completing the filing of the pipeline with gas, which means that the linear part of the pipeline is set to begin gas transit.