Russia will start supplying natural gas to China through a new pipeline by the end of 2019 as part of the two countries' $400 billion energy pact, state gas giant Gazprom said on July 4.

Gazprom Chief Executive Aleksei Miller told journalists in Moscow that delivery of gas would start on the so-called Power Of Siberia pipeline on December 20, 2019, and that Beijing and Moscow are now negotiating over a second Far Eastern gas pipeline.

Russia signed a 30-year deal in May 2014 to supply China, the world's largest energy market, with gas through a pipeline for the first time.

Construction began in September 2014 on the 4,000-kilometer pipeline connecting Yakutia's gas fields with the Sea of Japan and Chinese border.

Miller said that the project is now moving into a "key phase" and is being carried out "strictly on schedule," adding that he had "no doubts" the 2019 deadline would be met.

Gazprom's agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation came during a visit to Moscow by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Moscow and Beijing have ratcheted up trade and cooperation since 2014, when the Kremlin started looking east for markets after the West imposed sanctions over its aggression in Ukraine.

Based on reporting by AFP, dpa, TASS, and Interfax

