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Russia, China sign energy, finance deals

Moscow - Russia and China on Monday signed a host of economic agreements to boost trade and investment between both countries.

Among the 38 documents is an agreement to set up a joint venture for liquified natural gas (LNG) projects, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Russian state television.

Moscow has looked increasingly to China as its preferred economic partner over the past years, a trend that has been accelerated by the recent souring of relations with the West over the conflict in Ukraine.

In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a landmark 400-billion-dollar deal with Beijing that guarantees Russian gas deliveries over a 30-year period.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said after Monday's talks with Li in Moscow that trade between both countries has more than doubled over the past six years - from $40bn to $90bn - and that this figure should rise to $100bn next year.

He added that the trade volume should again double to $200bn by 2020. "I believe that this is absolutely achievable," Medvedev said according to an official transcript.

Russia is under pressure to look for new economic partners because sanctions by the European Union and the US have made doing business more complicated for its companies.

The last round of sanctions has hit Russian banks by limiting their ability to borrow money in Western capital markets.

Medvedev said that both countries' big lenders agreed to open credit lines for joint projects.

Among Monday's agreements is a $2bn credit line from the Export-Import Bank of China for Russia's state-run Vneshekonombank, the Interfax news agency reported. The money is earmarked for projects in Siberia and Russia's far east, the report said.

Beijing has indicated that it sees the sanctions as opening up an opportunity to boost exports to Russia.

Meanwhile, the Russian Central Bank had to step up its fight to defend the rouble after the Russian currency hit new lows against the dollar and the euro.

Over the past ten days, the bank spent $6bn to prop up the rouble course. Central Bank chairperson Elvira Nabiullina said on Russian state TV that the bank will continue to defend the currency. "Under no circumstances will we withdraw from the foreign exchange market," she said on Russian state TV.

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