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#russiachinanaturalgasRUSSIA
The Contract of the Century
Russian and Chinese leaders oversaw the launch of the Power of Siberia pipeline on Monday, Russia’s most significant energy project in almost three decades and a symbol of Moscow’s shifting diplomacy toward Beijing, the Financial Times reported.

The $55 billion project will provide China with 38 billion cubic meters in annual gas supplies via the 1,864 mile pipeline that crosses Siberia to the Chinese border in the southeast.

Dubbed “the contract of the century,” the deal will allow Russia’s Gazprom to increase gas exports amid declining demand from the traditional markets of Europe and Turkey.

Work on the pipeline began shortly after the United States and the European Union instituted sanctions on Russia following its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The project will also increase China’s energy security and help combat air pollution in the coal-dependent northeastern regions.

China has become heavily involved in Russian gas projects in recent years and it’s currently in talks with Gazprom on two additional pipelines.