MOSCOW, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- There are broad prospects for energy cooperation between China and Russia, Chinese Ambassador Liu Guchang has said.

    "Important progress has been made in China-Russia energy cooperation, typically in oil and gas sectors, and the modalities of cooperation have become more diversified," Liu said at a New Year party at a Russian international energy club Thursday.

    "There are broad prospects for energy cooperation between China and Russia that has been reciprocal, mutual beneficial and marked with a win-win solution," he told some 40 representatives from major Russian and Chinese oil companies, as well as cultural figures.

    The ambassador also spoke highly of the national theme years held in the two countries respectively in the last two years, saying they were instrumental in promoting the bilateral friendship and boosting cooperation between the two nations and peoples.

    Russia has become an important energy supplier for China. It is building a 4,000-km oil pipeline running from the eastern Siberia to the Pacific Ocean.

    Moscow also plans to pipe 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China each year via two pipelines, according to media reports.

    Leading Chinese oil and gas producers and refiners PetroChina and Sinopec are also striving to expand cooperation with their Russian counterparts.