From The Moscow Times (link):
President Vladimir Putin headed to Beijing on Monday for two days of visits with Chinese President Hu Jintao, who was expected to press for elusive energy guarantees to feed his country’s superheated economy as China kicks off its “Year of Russia.”
With Chinese energy consumption skyrocketing and Russia’s vast oil and gas resources right next door, “cooperation in the energy sphere is one of the most important elements of Russian-Chinese trade and economic relations,” Putin said in an interview on the eve of the trip. “I believe that it is growing successfully and has good potential in the long term.”
Putin is being accompanied by a delegation of about 800 people — “the most significant delegation in the history of Russian-Chinese relations,” said Sergei Sanokoyev, head of the Russian-Chinese Center for Trade and Economic Cooperation.
