China, Russia on verge of gas deal
BEIJING (AP) — China plans to sign a multibillion-dollar deal to buy Russian gas during a visit by President Vladimir Putin next week despite U.S. pressure to avoid undermining sanctions on Moscow over the Ukraine crisis.
Washington has appealed to Beijing to avoid making business deals with Russia, though American officials acknowledge the pressing energy needs of China, the world's second-largest economy.
Negotiations that began more than a decade ago had stalled over price. But analysts say Moscow, isolated over its role in Ukraine, faces pressure to make concessions in exchange for an economic and political boost.
"We are still exchanging views with Moscow and we will try our best to ensure that this contract can be signed and witnessed by the two presidents during President Putin's visit to China," a deputy Chinese foreign minister, Cheng Guoping, told reporters on Thursday.
Putin's visit to China is also likely to highlight the diverging fortunes of the two powers. China is on track to overtake the U.S. as the world's biggest economy in the next decade and is increasingly assertive in political relations with its neighbors. Russia's economy is reeling from its dispute with the West over Ukraine's tilt toward the European Union, a shift that inflamed Moscow's insecurities about declining influence.
https://in.news.yahoo.com/china-russia-verge-gas-deal-070422256--finance.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
The two countries established an exchange rate back in De. 2010 which thus completely bypasses the US$.
Elvis had it right all those years ago.
"Well its Yuan for the money, two for the show..................." 
Proper stuff tomorrow.
That's local at my pal's bar - great sound system there too.
