A staff member walks past pipelines in a section of the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline in Heihe, northeast China's Heilongjiang province, Nov. 19, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

China is willing to work with Russia to elevate their energy cooperation, making greater contributions to ensuring the energy security and sustainable development of both countries and the world at large, Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said in Beijing on Friday.

Ding, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks while co-chairing the 22nd meeting of the China-Russia Energy Cooperation Committee with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak in Beijing.

Ding said that energy cooperation is a model of equal, mutually beneficial and practical cooperation between China and Russia. In recent years, the two countries' heads of state have held multiple meetings and conversations, engaged in in-depth strategic communication, and guided the continuous consolidation and development of the comprehensive energy partnership between China and Russia, bringing tangible benefits to the people in both countries, he said.

Ding proposed that China and Russia should deepen their integration of interests, steadily advance their construction and operations of key projects, and consolidate their major achievements in energy cooperation.

He called on the two sides to adhere to the complementarity of their advantages, tap into cooperation potential in areas such as renewable energy, hydrogen energy and energy storage, and promote energy transition and development.

Ding also called for strengthened coordination and collaboration, the joint practice of true multilateralism, and the promotion of the Global Governance Initiative's implementation in the energy sector.

Novak said that under the strategic guidance of the two countries' heads of state, Russia-China energy cooperation has yielded fruitful results.

Russia is willing to work with China to fully leverage the guiding and coordinating role of the Russia-China Energy Cooperation Committee, expand energy cooperation between the two countries, advance the implementation of established projects, and support the high-level development of Russia-China relations in an improved manner, Novak said.