Russia's President Putin arrives in China for state visit

[Jesus Malverde]

1. Focus on Russia-China gas deal as Putin visits Shanghai

Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to sign a multi-billion dollar gas agreement with China during a two-day visit that kicks off on Tuesday, ending more than a decade of false starts and wrangling over a deal seen as vital to both sides.

But on Monday, sources close to the company and in the gas industry said it wanted China to pay $25 billion now to secure future gas supplies, whereas China had so far been reticent, concerned that other suppliers would seek similar deals.

"We are pinning our hopes on Putin's May visit," a source at Gazprom said.

For its part, Beijing has been pushing to secure equity stakes in gas fields in eastern Siberia, which would be the main source of supply.

The agreement that could be signed is a 30-year contract for Gazprom to supply China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) with 38 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas per year.

Should the deal be finalized this week, construction of a new pipeline is expected to begin by the end of 2014 and start delivering gas by 2018.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/19/us-china-russia-idUSBREA4I0LR20140519