Sino-Russian transregional gas cooperation: Key issues

Abstract

At present, such transregional projects as BRICS, Transatlantic trade and investment partnership, the Trans-Pacific partnership, APEC, Asia-European Forum, and the Eurasian Economic Union have been simultaneously initiated and implemented. This fact confirms that today the transregional level of international relations has acquired particular significance. The purpose of this paper is to scientifically substantiate target priorities concerning the growth of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the gas sector, as well as to identify existing problems and advantages that foster and impede transregional cooperation between China and Russia in the energy market. One sharp issue is that China wishes increasingly to diversify gas supply, moving from coal to natural gas as well as LNG and renewable energy to improve air quality. Will China choose to increase the Russian supply of natural gas suppliers? This study uses the transregionalism theoretical framework, and through this theory was provided the Russian and Chinese gas industry overview, was described the general framework and main cooperation gas projects between China and Russia, analyzed the developing trends of Russian gas export to China. Sino-Russian transregional gas cooperation model was developed on the base of Kuznetsov’s transregional framework. It was proved that transregional cooperation could be under risks and uncertainties; nevertheless, positive mutual collaboration perspectives have a bright tendency.