Special Report: China-ASEAN Summit

    NANNING, China, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Haji Ahmad Badawi Monday expressed satisfaction about the natural gas cooperation with China and was hopeful of further progress.

    The cooperation in natural gas has been satisfactorily going on since the beginning of this year, and there is greater space for such cooperation between China and Malaysia as the two countries see their economy moving forward in a constant and steady way, he said when meeting Lu Bing, chairman of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Regional Government.

    Badawi is here to attend the commemorative summit marking the 15th anniversary of the dialogue relations between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

    Earlier the day, the Shenergy Group announced that a Shanghai terminal will begin receiving LNG (liquefied natural gas) supply from Malaysia as of 2009 with annual delivery of no less than 1.1 million tons.

    According to a contract with a term of 25 years, the supply will grow year-by-year to three million tons in 2012 and then be kept stable.

     Badawi said energy sector is one of the key areas of Malaysia-China cooperation, when meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday,

    Energy cooperation is also among the four major sectors Wen proposed that the two countries could focus on in their relationship.

    The contract, inked by the Shanghai LNG Co. Ltd and a subsidiary of Petronas, Malaysia's national petroleum corporation, is so far the largest trade contract between the two countries, marking the beginning of the energy cooperation.

    Shanghai LNG Co. Ltd is a joint-venture co-funded by the Shenergy Group and a wholly-owned subsidiary of CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation), with Shenergy taking 55 percent of the shares.

    The Malaysian company draws its natural gas supplies from the Bintulu region, one of the world largest LNG production base in east Malaysia. The company boasts an annual LNG output of 23 million tons and supply mainly to countries like Japan and the Republic of Korea.

    The terminal for the Shanghai LNG project is located in the Yangshan Deepwater Port, Shanghai International Shipping Center.