New opportunities in Russian and Chinese energy cooperation

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin's ongoing visit to China marks another stage in the fostering of friendly cooperation between the two countries, exemplified by their mutually beneficial partnership in the energy sector.

In 2022, the trade volume between the two countries grew by 29.3 percent to a record $190.27 billion, with more than 70 percent of Russian exports to China being energy resources. Russian oil exports to China increased by about 8 percent to 86.25 million metric tons; liquefied natural gas by 43.9 percent to 6.5 million tons; pipeline gas to 15.5 billion cubic meters; and coal by about 20 percent to surpass 60 million tons, according to Siberian Coal Energy Company, also known as SUEK.

Maxim Basov, CEO of the company, said China is a world energy leader with a wise and rational policy based on the unity of economic development, energy security, environmental and climate responsibility and advanced technologies.

Coal remains China's main energy consumable and, along with oil and gas, it plays an integral role in the energy dialogue between the two countries. According to Beijing-based news portal people.com.cn, China's imports of coal from Russia increased from 53.46 million tons in 2021 to 68.06 million tons in 2022.

Russia is currently China's second-largest coal supplier. SUEK is a global leader that has exported coal to China for more than a decade. In 2022, the company supplied China with more than 7 million tons of high-quality coal and that figure is expected to rise to more than 20 million tons this year and upwards of 50 million tons in the very near future.

SUEK produces more than 115 million tons of coal annually, with almost half that total exported to 40 countries and regions. Along with China, its major customers include South Korea, India, Turkiye and Morocco. This year, the company plans to actively increase its exports of coal and other bulk commodities such as iron ore concentrate, petroleum coke and wood pellets to the Asia-Pacific region.

SUEK can enrich 100 percent of its coal supplied for export. The company owns large coal terminals in the Far East and the north of Russia and can supply coal to China by rail, sea and river routes.

Another important offshoot of the expansion of the energy cooperation between the two nations is the export of electricity from Russia to China. SUEK's energy division, Siberian Generating Company, or SGC, is the sixth-largest energy company in Russia in terms of installed power plant capacity. Today there are already many projects on SGC's agenda involving the supply of energy from the Russian Far East to Beijing and Shuangyashan city in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province.

SUEK owns and operates 11 repair and machine-building plants and is open to expanding cooperation with qualified personnel from China who have the skills necessary to produce high-quality in-demand products.

"On behalf of SUEK, I want to emphasize that our company is ready to actively participate in the strengthening of economic cooperation between the two countries and we will continue to expand mutually beneficial ties with our Chinese partners," said Basov.