China provides 6 billion U.S. dollars to import 475 million tons of coal from Russia

China and Russia’s "***** exchange for oil" cooperation mode has been replicated. This time, China replaced the coal in the Russian Far East. The reporter learned from the China Coal Transportation and Marketing Association yesterday that China and Russia recently signed an energy cooperation agreement and China will provide Russia with 6 billion U.S. dollars. In the next 25 years, China will import at least 15 million tons of coal from Russia every year for the first five years. It will increase to import at least 20 million tons per year. The two sides also agreed to jointly develop coal-to-oil technology. The size of at least 475 million tons of imports will also allow the rich resources of the Russian Far East region to usher in a new wave of energy development.

According to the agreement, China and Russia will establish joint ventures to jointly develop coal resources in Russia's Amur River (Heilongjiang) region. ** In addition to mineral resources exploration projects, it will also invest in the construction of railways, highways, and other transportation channels to purchase mineral mining equipment. In the areas of prospecting, mineral processing and infrastructure construction, Russia will cooperate with China Shenhua Group.

In fact, with the increasing pressure on energy imports, China continues to present new samples in the form of energy exchange. In May this year, the National Development Bank, Petrobras and Sinopec signed an agreement to provide Brazil with oil imports. The Sino-Russian exchange of coal for "**" is the second successful cooperation between the two countries in energy in recent years. In February 2009, China and Russia reached an agreement on “exchange for oil” and China provided Russia with a long-term $25 billion in payments. The Russian side will supply China with a total of 300 million tons of oil on a yearly basis of 15 million tons in 2011-2030.

"The increased energy cooperation between China and Russia is of positive significance to both countries." Song Zhichen, a researcher at China Investment Advisor Energy Industry Co., Ltd., said that in the first half of this year, China imported more than 6 million tons of raw coal from Russia. Due to its close distance, imports from Russia can be greatly increased. To save on transportation costs, “China's import of coal from Russia has a price of US$87 per ton, and imports of coal from Australia are US$111 per ton”. For the Russian side, due to the long distance from major coal-consuming places and the small trade volume between South Korea, Japan, and Russia, China’s coal has long been self-sufficient, and its rich coal resources in the Far East have not been developed on a large scale. "**for coal" will effectively change this situation.

China had become a net importer of coal last year, with imports exceeding 100 million tons. According to statistics from Asia Securities, China imported more than 12 million tons of coal from Russia last year, compared to only 1 million tons in 2008. As of last year, Russia has become China's fourth-largest coal supplier, second only to Australia, Indonesia and Vietnam. (Zhang Han)