In a video - transmitted ceremony marking the commencement of the Chinese part of the 3170 km - long Russia - China Gas Pipeline, Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev hailed the progress of the monumental project.

The Chinese part of the Eastern Route of Russia-China Gas Pipeline will run from the China-Russian border in Heihe of Heilongjiang Province and end at Shanghai, passing through nine provinces and cities including Heilongjiang, Jilin, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Shanghai. Along with the pipeline auxiliary underground gas storages will be built. And an existing 1,800km-long pipeline will be included. Construction of the Russian part of the pipeline, which the Russian side named the Power of Siberia, started on September 1, 2014.

Both Gaoli and Medvedev called for continued cooperation between the two countries in the manufacturing, financial and agriculture sectors, particularly in the regions along the joint Russian - Chinese border.