AKIPRESS.COM - A 3,000km-long pipeline transporting natural gas from Russia to China has been launched, in an economic and political boost to ties between the two countries, Euronews reports.

The Power of Siberia pipeline provides the world’s second largest gas exporter with a potentially huge market outside of Europe, which has long been Russia’s major market for gas.

China is now Russia’s top export market, with the pipeline project expected to last for three decades, generating $400 billion for the Russian economy.