Russia's deputy prime minister Alexander Zhukov has said that he believes the coordinated export of Russian energy supplies to China, primarily gas but also possibly including oil and power, is an idea that should be further investigated.

Mr Zhukov was speaking to the Interfax news agency ahead of a Sino-Russian summit in Beijing. He said that the Russian energy and industry ministry is looking at setting up a unified system to regulate gas extraction, transportation and supply. Export markets were likely to play a major part in determining the operation of such a system as Russia looks to capitalize on burgeoning demand for gas from China and other parts of southern Asia.

Russia’s state-owned gas producer Gazprom has already signed a cooperation agreement with China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) to deliver natural gas to China. Russian natural gas supplies to CNPC from the unified gas supply system would ensure stable, secure, and long-term supplies of Russian gas to China, Mr Zhukov explained.

Gazprom and CNPC are working together on establishing the logistics of transporting gas into China. Gazprom is also using its presence in China to develop other gas export opportunities in the Asia Pacific region. Mr Zhukov told Interfax that, Gazprom’s representation in China has been authorized to represent the company’s interests in Asia Pacific Region countries. Thus, an important step has been made towards the considerable expansion of the company’s presence in one of the most dynamically developing regions of the world.