Russia is the world's biggest energy producer and China is the largest energy consumer, overtaking the United States last year.

The Russian president said the two leaders also discussed how Russia and China could work closer together on international issues.

Mr. Medvedev says he thinks this closer cooperation will help both nations, in his words, "deal with the increasingly complicated international situation in a better way."

During a visit to China by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last year, Russian and Chinese companies signed more than $3 billion worth of commercial deals. The two sides also set the framework for a separate, multi-billion dollar agreement to build two natural gas pipelines to China from Russia's Far East.

Russia and China split bitterly 50 years ago over differing interpretations of Communist ideology, although relations have improved in recent years.

The Russian president arrived in the northeastern Chinese port city of Dalian on Sunday. His three-day trip includes a stop in Shanghai, where he will visit Russia's Pavilion at the Expo.