China, Russia to sign $5.5b in trade deals

China and Russia are expected to sign nearly three-dozen deals worth more than US$5.5 billion during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing, state media reported. Gazprom is expected to finalize a supplement agreement with China National Petroleum Corp to increase natural gas exports to China and there is also talk of a contract to build a Sino-Russian joint venture oil refinery in Tianjin. Non-energy deals include a US$200 million agreeement between Russian consumer services company JSFC Sistema and Bank of China and telecom equipment manufacturer ZTE. China National Materials and an investment holding company will also sign four agreements with Eurocement concerning the construction of cement production facilities. Putin’s schedule includes a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao and a summit of prime ministers from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.