China gas deal ‘politically important’ for Putin

Russia's President Vladmir Putin is in Shanghai as part of his first trip to China since President Xi Jinping took office.

A multibillion-dollar gas deal that has been in the works for a decade will be discussed. Pressure from the west over Russia's actions in Ukraine has meant Russia is keen to nurture a big new customer.

China is already Russia's largest single trading partner, with bilateral trade between the two giants coming to $90 billion dollars last year. But the two neighbours want to double that to $200 billion by the end of the decade.

Philip Andrews-Speed from the Energy Studies Institute at the National University of Singapore told the BBC's Rico Hizon that reaching a deal comes down to price.