The State Duma has approved a law confirming the agreement between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on cooperation in securing natural gas supplies through the Far East route. According to DEA News, this legislative step formalizes a key cross-border energy project that aims to strengthen regional energy ties and ensure reliable gas deliveries to Northeast Asia.
The agreement, initially signed on 31 January 2023, outlines plans to develop a cross-border segment of the gas corridor. This segment will connect a gas measuring station in Russia with the Hulin launch facility on Chinese soil. The cooperation framework assigns design responsibilities to Gazprom within Russia and to the China National Oil and Gas Corporation in China, highlighting a joint engineering and project-management approach that leverages each side’s technical strengths.
Presently Gazprom already supplies natural gas to the People’s Republic of China via the Power of Siberia pipeline. This route transports gas from the Yakutia region through the Primorsky Territory to markets across the Asia-Pacific region. By the end of last year, exports through this pipeline reached about 15.5 billion cubic meters, underscoring the scale of the bilateral energy exchange and the growing demand for gas from China as part of its broader energy diversification strategy.
Alongside increasing physical supplies, the two countries have moved toward enhanced swap arrangements settled in national currencies, signaling a push for greater financial settlement efficiency and potential currency resilience in energy trade. This shift aligns with broader regional efforts to reduce currency risk and improve the resilience of energy transactions amid evolving global markets, as noted in official statements and updates reported by DEA News.