BEIJING - Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli met with Russian natural gas company Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller here on Tuesday, calling for closer strategic energy cooperation between the two neighbors.

Hailing the progress of bilateral energy cooperation under the guidance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Zhang called on both sides to implement consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries.

Zhang urged the two countries to facilitate the construction of the China-Russia east-route natural gas pipeline and speed up negotiations on the western route.

China and Russia must cooperate on oil and gas projects and manufacture of advanced equipment, as well as on integrated downstream and upstream projects based on the principles of sharing gains and risks and win-win cooperation, Zhang said.

The two countries should explore new cooperation fields and projects to consolidate China-Russia all-round partnership of strategic coordination, he said.

Miller, in his turn, said Russia regards China as a long-term, stable and reliable energy cooperation partner, and hopes to expand comprehensive bilateral energy cooperation including natural gas.