Moscow, 4 January: Russia should increase cooperation with China in the energy sector, believes the director of the East Asia and the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organization) research centre of the MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations), Aleksandr Lukin.

"We have energy cooperation with China, but it does not correspond to the needs of the Chinese economy," the expert said in an interview with the Interfax-China news agency.

By supplies of crude oil, Russia occupies the fourth place in China's overall import and according to the results of January-September 2007, Russian oil export to China fell by 10 per cent, Lukin stressed. He said that at the same time oil supplies to China from Kazakhstan were enjoying the fastest growth. In 2006, they increased by 107.8 per cent, "this was largely facilitated by the rapid completion of construction of a new oil pipeline from Kazakhstan to China".

While there is no oil pipeline, approximately two-thirds of Russian supplies are effected by railway and one-third by sea, but the possibilities of railway supplies are limited, the expert noted. "The rapid completion of construction of the Chinese branch of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean oil pipeline could contribute to a considerable increase in supplies of Russian oil to China," he believes.

At the same time, according to Lukin, Russian-Chinese cooperation in the area of construction of nuclear power plants (NPP) is developing successfully, "although in the course of the work there were some delays and complaints by the Chinese side regarding the quality of work".

"In this area Russia must actively fight for new contracts," the expert stated, recalling that China has adopted a programme of construction of 30 new NPPs. "Getting orders to build one or several new NPPs by Russian experts and implementing it (the project) to high quality standards and in a timely manner would be a great success," Lukin stressed.

You can see the full text of the interview on the website of the Interfax-China news agency.