Beijing -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Russia 's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing Tuesday , kicking off a two-day visit to China , his first state visit since announcing his intention to contest the Russian presidency next March . Aside from meeting his counterpart Chinese premier Wen Jiabao in the 16th Regular Meeting between the two Prime Ministers , Putin will also meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders . Talks are expected to include negotiations on a natural gas deal worth $ 1 trillion that has been stalled by disagreements over price . The deal would see Russia supply China with up to 68 billion cubic meters of gas every year . `` If the deal can be reached , the trade volume will increase significantly , and this will change the fact that the economic cooperation between the two countries lags behind the political cooperation , '' said Zhao Huasheng , director of the Center for Russia and Central Asia Studies at Fudan University . `` Together with cooperation in other economic fields , China and Russia will become real strategic partners in economic terms . '' Putin 's arrival in Beijing comes less than three weeks after he announced his bid to reclaim the Russian presidency next year . `` The fact that Putin may become next Russian president indeed adds some political color to this visit , and its impact on bilateral relation will definitely go beyond the impact of a regular state visit , '' Zhao said . `` The meeting to some extent will set the keynote for the China-Russia relation in future . It can be described as the start of China-Russia relation in ` new Putin era ' , '' he added . Experts say economic cooperation between the two countries will dominate the meeting agenda . `` Since this is mainly a meeting between the two premiers , this visit will be mainly about expanding the economic cooperation and improving trade structure , '' said Jiang Yi , vice director of Research Center for Russian Diplomacy at China Academy of Social Science , the country 's top think tank . Recent years have seen a steady increase in trade volume between the two countries . According to the Chinese Ministry of Commerce , bilateral trade volume in the year to July increased by 37.4 % to a record $ 42.2 billion compared to the previous year . The ministry forecasts that the bilateral trade volume will reach a new record in 2011 , in excess of $ 70 billion . Among all the economic agendas , energy cooperation stands out as the main focus between Russia , a major energy exporter , and China , the world 's biggest energy consumer , according to a 2010 report from the International Energy Agency . According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry , during Putin 's visit , Chinese vice Premier Wang Qishan will hold an energy negotiation meeting with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin . `` Chinese-Russian energy cooperation is an important part of the two countries ' strategic partnership , '' said Liu Weimin , spokesperson of Foreign Ministry , on Monday during a regular press conference . Putin brings with him to China a group of 160 business leaders , including the CEOs of Russian energy giants Gazprom , Rosneft and aluminum producer UC RUSAL .