China and Russia have signed a 25-billion US dollars oil-for-loan deal on February 17 in Beijing, state news agencies in both countries reported.

The deal saw Moscow securing the loan from Beijing, which in return received a yearly oil supply of 15 million tons (300,000 barrels a day) from new fields in eastern Siberia from 2011 to 2030.

For the delivery of the oil supply, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reported that the two countries had agreed on the construction of a pipeline from Russia's Skovorodino in its far-eastern Amur region to China's northeastern city of Daqing.

The report also stated that financing of the project would come from the China Development Bank, which would issue a 15 billion US dollar loan to the Russian oil producing company Rosneft, and 10 billion US dollars to the operator of the national oil pipeline system, Transneft.

The loan arrangement was in line with a memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries back in October 2008.

China's Xinhua news agency reported that the deal was part of an energy co-operation pact - which included seven agreements covering crude oil pipeline construction and long-term oil trading and loans - between the two countries. Beijing and Moscow have held at least three rounds of talks since last November.

Russia is the world's second largest crude oil exporter, and China is the world's number two oil importer.

The deal, by far the largest trade financing agreement between the two countries, and would provide China with fuel it has sought to support economic growth.

For the first 11 months in 2008, China imported 164.5 million tons of crude oil, mainly sourced from Asia and Africa, with nearly 55% percent from the Middle East and 31% percent from Africa.