China-Russia Strategic Partnership and the Oil and Gas Collaboration

Over the post-Cold War era, China and Russia have persistently expanded their “comprehensive cooperation,” including the oil and gas cooperation as part of the strategic partnership. The research objectives of the chapter are to explore the latest development in the China-Russia oil and gas cooperation, and the motivations and outcomes from a Chinese perspective. It contributes to the scholarly discussion by analyzing China’s intensified energy cooperation with Russia in the greater picture of China’s rise and examining it in a political economy way. The chapter finds that the rapidly enhanced energy cooperation is a visible manifestation of China’s quest for energy security and a greater say in the world energy market. The chapter concludes that China intends to ensure its energy security by intensifying oil and gas cooperation with Russia to sustain its economic growth that is perceived by the Chinese political leaders as a basis underpinning China’s rise at the systemic (global) level.