Preparations for an agreement on long-awaited Russian natural gas exports to China have entered "the final phase", Russian President Vladimir Putin said ahead of a two-day visit to Shanghai.
Â
"For Russia, implementing these agreements means diversifying gas supply destinations, while for our Chinese partners ... it could be a remedy for energy shortages and helps ecological security," Putin said.
Â
A deal after nearly two decades of talks would secure the world's top energy user a key chunk of supply as demand for the cleaner burning fuel is set to surge.
Â
For Russia, the deal to supply China with 38 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year would help cut its dependence on Europe as the major market for its gas and create a strategic shift to Asia, as political pressure piles up over Ukraine.
Â
Russian state-run Gazprom (GAZP.MM) said at the weekend it was still "one digit" away from finalizing a 30-year gas supply deal with Beijing which is expected to crown Putin's visit to China next week.
Â
Earlier this month, state China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said that it and Gazprom had reached an agreement to sign a contract during Putin's visit but that the two sides had yet to iron out price differences.
Â
At 38 bcm per year, Russian supplies would be equal to nearly a quarter of current consumption and make up nearly a tenth of China's estimated total gas demand by 2020.
Â
China is fast-tracking gas use, which is set to grow about 2.5 fold between 2014 and 2020, to curb use of the dominant but dirtier coal.
Â
The country's state planning agency forecast last month that China would raise its total natural gas supply capacity to 400Â billion cubic meters (bcm) per year by 2020.Â