BEIJING — China and Russia will resume natural-gas talks Friday and will seek cooperation in both upstream and downstream sectors, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said Tuesday.
"I believe there will be a new breakthrough," Cheng said in a joint news briefing with Russia's ambassador to China, Sergei Razov. "The cooperation includes both upstream and downstream, with both sides sharing risks and benefits."
Talks between China, the world's fastest-growing energy consumer, and Russia, the world's largest conventional gas producer, fell apart late last year when China, frustrated by years of stalemate over price, increased its supplies from rival producer Turkmenistan.
Last month, a senior energy official visiting Moscow as part of a delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang, who is on track to succeed Premier Wen Jiabao, told reporters that China had proposed a new model for cooperation on gas during the visit.
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