Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline - Construction of the second west-east natural gas transmission pipeline that will transport Turkmen gas to China has been completed, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) contractor said on Monday. The pipeline, with a capacity of 30 billion cm annually, will carry 10 bcm gas from Turkmenistan and China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to the industrialised Yangtze and Guangdong Pearl River deltas per year. (China’s first west-to-east pipeline transmits natural gas within the country from the northwest province of Xinjiang to Shanghai in the east.)
On Thursday, the Kazakh Oil and Gas Ministry predicted that Central Asia will increase its natural gas exports to China to 65 billion cubic meters (bcm) a year. The ministry previously said that China would receive 40 bcm of natural gas via the Central Asia-China pipeline by 2013. Central Asia is exporting 10 bcm per year to China at current rates. Kazakhstan’s increased gas exports to China will be facilitated by the construction of a third spur on the gas pipeline.
SCO - On June 15, a summit meeting commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will be held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. The presidents of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan will join together to discuss major issues concerning the development of the SCO. In addition to hailing the 10 years' achievements, the summit also touches a series of current regional and world security issues. In particular, the President of Kyrgyzstan Roza Otunbayeva highly appreciated the SCO' prompt reaction to last year's events in Kyrgyzstan and said it has the potential to resolve the conflicts. In response to the US-backed NATO missle defense plan, the member countries signed a declaration condemning any unilateral build-up of missile defenses. The SCO also said its member states will focus on cooperation in trade and counter-terrorism, calling for an end to the Libyan crisis. In terms of economic cooperation, President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov supports the establishment of the SCO Development Bank to finance major projects in the Central Asian region.
Some SCO observer states and dialogue partners have also related their concerns over regional security and efforts to combat emerging threats. Notably, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad condemned the United States and the West passionately in his remarks at the summit, calling for alliance against West. India and Pakistan – two other observer states of the SCO and also two countries often regarded as enemies – expressed their will to join the organization in the near future. Moreover, the SCO summit calls for aid and more cooperation with Afghanistan.
China-Russia - Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived in Moscow on Wednesday for a state visit aimed at deepening pragmatic cooperation between China and Russia. Noting that this year marked the 10th anniversary of the signing of the China-Russia Treaty on Good-Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation, Hu said the two countries should always adhere to the principles of the treaty and advocate the idea of friendship from generation to generation. In 2010, Hu and Medvedev held six bilateral meetings, and reached important agreements on further deepening the China-Russia strategic partnership of cooperation. On Thursday China and Russia issued a joint statement on a broad range of key international issues. The statement was signed by visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev.
Chinese President Hu Jintao, on a visit this day to St. Petersburg said that China and Russia set a goal of increasing trade fourfold during this decade. As Russian President Dmitry Medvedev nodded approvingly, Hu told an international gathering of corporate executives that the two leaders have set a goal of $200 billion in bilateral trade by 2020. Nevertheless, the most eye-catching issue upon Hu's visit to Russia is a 30-year $1 trillion gas deal, the talks on which started 10 years ago. Unfortunately, once again, the two sides failed to agree on the gas supply deal with China in time for signing on Friday because of differences over the price. Negotiations have long been stuck on the issue of price, with Gazprom saying it will not accept a lower effective price than it receives from its core European customers. Negotiators for CNPC have signaled that they will pay no more than $250 per thousand cubic meters, sources at Gazprom said on Wednesday. Russia's gas export monopoly is still targeting a price that will make deliveries to China as profitable as those to European clients, who Gazprom says will pay $500 per thousand cubic meters in the fourth quarter of this year.
China-Kazakhstan - China and Kazakhstan have signed a strategic partnership agreement and vowed to double their trade in the next four years. The deal was signed on June 13 in the Kazakh capital Astana as Chinese President Hu Jintao held talks with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev. The Chinese president said the two neighboring countries had set a goal of increasing their trade turnover to $40 billion by 2015. An agreement announced between the two sides on June 13 calls for a $1 billion currency swap to encourage economic cooperation. China and Kazakhstan also agreed to cooperate on nuclear and alternative energy including solar and wind power as the countries deepened bilateral ties and pledged to coordinate on global and regional issues. Kazakhstan will start supplying uranium tablets to China this year.
Russia-Uzbekistan - Islam Karimov and Dmitry Medvedev met in Tashkent on the eve of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. Karimov noted that relations between Russia and Uzbekistan, primarily in economic terms, show a good momentum, as evidenced by the more than 40% increase in turnover in 2010. The Russian and Uzbek leaders are particularly concerned by the Arab spring sweeping North Africa and the Middle East this year. Medvedev told Uzbek leader Islam Karimov he hoped events in the region would develop in a way "that is clear and predictable for us". A broadcast on Russia's "Kommersant FM" radio interviewed Sergei Zatsepilov, the general director of the "For a Just Foreign Policy" center on June 14, where Zatsepilov said Medvedev wants to impress upon Islam Karimov the need for Uzbekistan to have a "peaceful transfer of power" and that to ensure this the SCO was willing to "take it upon itself to guarantee security."
US-Turkmenistan - On June 13th President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov received the US Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy Mr. Richard Morningstar. Thee President and his guest exchanged views on the prospects of Turkmen-American cooperation in the energy sector. Morningstar noted that leading U.S. companies are interested in the promising Turkmen market and major projects implemented by Turkmenistan in the oil and gas industry.
Articles referred to in this post:
"首条跨国天然气管道将输气入粤 年输入百亿立方" (First transnational natural gas pipeline to Guangdong will deliver 10 billion cubic meters Turkmen gas to Guangdong per year)
"Туркменистан наращивает экспортные поставки природного газа в Китай" (Turkmenistan increases exports of natural gas to China)
"Казахстан хочет в шесть раз увеличить пропускную способность газопровода Туркменистан-КНР" (Kazakhstan expects a six-fold increase in the capacity of the Turkmenistan-China)
"Шанхайская организация сотрудничества: итоги 10 лет работы" (The Shanghai Cooperation Organization: Achievements of 10 years)
"Отунбаева: помощь ШОС помогла предотвратить катастрофу в Киргизии" (Otunbayeva: SCO helped avert disaster in Kyrgyzstan)
"Страны ШОС осудили американскую ПРО и войну в Ливии" (The SCO countries condemned the U.S. missile defense and Libya war)
"Узбекистан поддержал предложения Китая о создании Банка развития ШОС" (Uzbekistan supports China's proposal on the establishment of the SCO Development Bank)
"Для Ирана саммит ШОС в Астане станет возможностью разъяснить свою позицию по ряду важных вопросов" (For Iran, the SCO summit in Astana is an opportunity to clarify its position on several important issues)
"Источник: Индия и Пакистан могут стать полноценными членами ШОС" (India and Pakistan could become full members of SCO)
"ШОС будет укреплять сотрудничество с Афганистаном" (SCO will strengthen cooperation with Afghanistan)
"Россия и Китай подписали совместное заявление по ситуации в мире" (China, Russia issue joint statement on major international issues)
"Китай планирует увеличивать товарооборот с Россией до 200 млрд долларов" (China, Russia Vow to Quadruple Trade This Decade)
"Лидеры РФ и КНР обсудят связи в экономике, в том числе в газовой сфере" (The leaders of Russia and China discuss cooperation in economic sphere, including in the gas sector)
"Сделка «Газпрома» и китайской CNPC неожиданно откладывается, контракт в Петербурге не подпишут" (Deal between "Gazprom" and China's CNPC unexpectedly delayed, the contract is not going to be signed in St. Petersburg)
"Стратегическое партнерство между Казахстаном и Китаем стало всесторонним" (The strategic partnership between Kazakhstan and China has become comprehensive)
"Казахстан и Китай хотят удвоить объем торговли" (Kazakhstan, China aim to double trade)
"我国与哈萨克签70亿元人民币双边本币互换协议" (China, Kazakhstan signed 7 billion RMB currency swap deal)
"Казахстан начнет поставку урановых таблеток в Китай в 2011 году" (Kazakhstan will supply uranium to China tablets in 2011)
"Президенты Узбекистана и России обсудили сотрудничество" (Presidents of Uzbekistan and Russia discuss cooperation)
"Medvedev To Karimov -- Leave Office Voluntarily"
"Визит представителя Госдепартамента США" (US special envoy visits Turkmenistan)
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