President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, Chinese partners,
We are celebrating a happy event today – the start of a project that we had been talking about for a long time.
We and our Chinese friends were saying just before that this marks the start of the world’s biggest construction project. This will be the most ambitious project in this sector over the coming period.
What’s important is not setting records though, but that this project has great significance for the Russian Federation and for the People’s Republic of China.
This project will make it possible for Russia to export gas and to develop our country’s own gas network in the eastern regions, the Far East and eastern Siberia. This will help us to boost these regions’ development and indeed give a boost around the whole country to sectors such as machine-building, the metals industry, the pipe manufacturing sector and the chemicals industry. This is all about big investment, creating new jobs and high-tech businesses.
It is the high level of cooperation between Russia and China that has made this project possible. In this respect, I want to express our thanks to the Chinese Government and President Xi Jinping for directly supporting our joint efforts.
I congratulate you all on the launch of construction and wish you every success.