The News
A massive China-Russia natural gas pipeline was completed, Chinese state media reported Monday, suggesting that Russian gas could begin powering Shanghai by the end of the year. Moscow is now largely reliant on the Chinese market for its gas exports after Europe blocked imports over the Ukraine invasion, but efforts to build a separate pipeline stalled earlier this year over price disagreements. China is already getting discounted Russian natural gas and supplies through the completed pipeline will continue at a “significant discount,” according to a Jamestown Foundation expert.
The war in Ukraine has deepened Moscow’s economic dependence on Beijing, and Russia is showing signs of “becoming a subordinate economic partner to China rather than an equal.”