Global Economic Signals — 2026-09-01

Putin Seeks Xi Meeting at SCO Summit to Revive Power of Siberia-2 Pipeline as Beijing Demands Five-Fold Price Cut

BLUFBeijing's five-fold price discount demand against Moscow's existing concession makes a signed Power of Siberia-2 construction agreement by the Eastern Economic Forum close on September 4 very unlikely.

Putin met Xi Jinping on Monday at the SCO summit in Bishkek to press again for approval of the Power of Siberia-2 pipeline, which would double Russian gas exports to China 12. Putin also planned a separate meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, who heads the intergovernmental commission on energy cooperation 1. Sources cited by The Wall Street Journal said Beijing is seeking a price near $50 per 1,000 cubic meters, about one-fifth the $258.8 Russia currently charges under the Power of Siberia-1 pipeline, itself a 39 percent discount off the $420.2 paid by other Gazprom foreign customers 13. The talks produced no construction agreement, and Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said pipeline discussions will continue at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok from September 1-4 3.

Analysis
Pricing remains the sole obstacle: Beijing's roughly five-fold discount demand clashes with the 39-percent concession Moscow already grants on Power of Siberia-1, a gap neither side has closed in a decade of talks. A signed construction agreement by the close of the Vladivostok forum on September 4 is very unlikely, since Beijing has previously told Moscow's delegation to stop raising the pipeline absent movement on price. This outcome matches the pattern from Putin's prior Beijing visits, where upbeat Kremlin statements went unmatched by any signed document, high confidence, though reporting here leans on aide-level readouts rather than official releases. The Ding Xuexiang meeting and the Vladivostok follow-on may instead reflect incremental price bargaining rather than genuine deadlock, but until pricing shifts, Gazprom's capital planning and Beijing's LNG-versus-pipeline sourcing calculus stay unresolved.
4 sources
  1. Putin wants to convince Xi to build a new gas pipeline from Russia to China - Ukrainska Pravda
  2. Putin Arrives in Kyrgyzstan for SCO Summit - The Moscow Times
  3. Putin Presses Xi Jinping on Power of Siberia-2 Amid Pricing Deadlock - Time News
  4. Putin meets China's Xi at regional security summit - Kyiv Independent

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