A 30-year wait, and this is just the start

China signed a long-awaited 30-year deal last month to buy Russian natural gas worth about $400 billion, according to news reports. There has been a lot of debate about the agreed price, possibly because the pricing issue was the main reason for the long negotiations.

But the importance of the deal goes beyond the content of the deal itself. It provides an important turning point in Sino-Russian energy cooperation.

The deal addresses some of the urgent needs of both countries. Because of the air pollution cleanup, China is keen to have Russian gas as soon as possible.