Russian and Chinese businesses have signed a number of agreements worth 3.5 billion USD during a current China visit by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

According to Russia ’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov, about 40 agreements were signed as the result of an economic forum held on Oct. 13. They included a deal on a 500 million USD loan from the Agricultural Bank of China to the VTB Bank of Russia .

An energy agreement is expected to be reached at the upcoming talks between PM Putin and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao. In 2006, the two countries signed a preliminary agreement on building a pipeline from Russia to China to supply the latter about 80 billion cu.m of gas every year.

Before the visit, the Russian Government said the two countries would sign agreements worth up to 5.5 billion USD, including a memorandum of understanding on the development of a railway express in Russia .

Hot-button global issues, including the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea ’s nuclear programme and its missile launches on Oct. 12, will be put on table for discussion during the two PMs’ talks./.