Moscow. 1 July 2005. The Chairman of the Management Board of RAO "UES of Russia" Anatoly Chubais and the Director General of the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) Liu Zhenya signed an Agreement today on long-term cooperation between RAO "UES of Russia" and the SGCC. The official ceremony to sign the Agreement took place today in the Kremlin in the presence of Russia's President Vladimir Putin and PRC Chairman Hu Jingtao.

The key area of mutual cooperation is the development of electricity trade between Russia and China. Specifically, in accordance with the previously agreements, China expressed an interest in expanding electricity imports from Russia.

The Agreement signed today will become the basis for the development of practical steps in the countries' electricity industries. It is intended to encourage financial investments in the construction of electricity facilities and development of the power grid infrastructure so as to support expansion of the electricity and capacity trade between the two states.

The cooperation between Russia and China in electricity trade will promote the development of electricity sector in Siberia and the Far East of Russia and increase the efficiency of operation of the countries' energy systems.