OREANDA-NEWS. Beijing today hosted a working meeting between Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Zhou Jiping, Vice President of China National Petroleum Corporation.

The parties continued discussing issues in relation to the implementation of the Protocol on Natural Gas Supply from Russia to the PRC. The parties progressed in agreeing on the terms and arrangements of gas deliveries from Russia to China via the Western and Eastern routes.

The Chinese side confirmed the priority of gas shipments from Russia via a Gazprom authorized company.

Before the end of 2006 the parties plan to finalize the commercial talks about the terms of Russian natural gas supply, so as to possibly initiate gas deliveries via the Western route as early as in 2011.