Letter from China: Beijing strengthens gas ties with Moscow

China is considering importing more pipeline gas from Siberia, but competition from LNG may cap the scale of these volumes

China’s new contract to buy more Russian gas marks a deepening of the relationship between the two countries at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions between Moscow and the West over Ukraine. But it does not necessarily mean a follow-up to the historic megadeal signed in 2014 is a foregone conclusion. Russia’s state-controlled Gazprom said early this month that it had signed a contract to supply an additional 10bn m³/yr of gas to China’s CNPC. The long-term SPA adds to the 30-year deal signed in 2014 for 38bn m³/yr, deliveries from which began in December 2019 via the Power of Siberia pipeline. The new deal—under negotiation since 2015—is for the supply of gas from Russia’s Far East to