Tass news agency, Wen said China could increase Russian oil imports to up to 15 million tons (105 million barrels) by 2006. "We are stressing the sphere of security and economic cooperation," Wen was quoted as saying earlier Friday by ITAR-Tass, following a meeting with the speaker of Russia's lower house of parliament. Beijing has been lobbying Moscow to build a US$2.5 billion pipeline to ship Siberian oil to China. A competing proposal has been pushed by Japan, which considers a pipeline to Russia's Pacific port of Nakhodka more advantageous for its energy demands. Russia also wants Beijing's backing in its efforts to join the World Trade Organization. Russia first applied to join in 1993, but only started making major efforts to fulfill membership conditions when Putin came to power in 1999. Russia hopes to complete all bilateral negotiations with WTO members by the end of this year and begin the formal process of accession into the world's biggest trading club in 2005. Russia and China have strengthened economic and strategic ties considerably in recent years as China's economy continues to surge. China is a top buyer of Russian weaponry, according to trade media reports. In a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao last year, Putin said relations between Russia and China "had reached their highest level ever."
