China will not reach an agreement to import natural gas from Russia’s Gazprom during a state visit by President Vladimir Putin this week despite strenuous Russian efforts to secure what has been portrayed as a key test of closer Sino-Russian ties.

在俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔•普京(Vladimir Putin)对中国进行国事访问期间，中国与俄罗斯天然气工业股份公司(Gazprom)达成了从后者进口天然气的协议。这一协议被外界视作中俄关系是否正在变得更加紧密的试金石。

As Moscow’s relations with the West have deteriorated over the crisis in Ukraine, Mr Putin has sought to show the world and the Russian people that he has alternative friends to the east.

在俄罗斯与西方关系因乌克兰危机不断恶化之际，普京试图向世界以及俄罗斯人民表明，他在东方能找到其他盟友。

Russian media, officials and Mr Putin himself have repeatedly said that the gas deal, which has been under negotiation for more than a decade, would be signed during the Russian President’s visit to Shanghai, which ends on Wednesday evening.

中国最大石油公司——中国石油天然气集团公司(CNPC)周三表示，已与俄罗斯天然气工业股份公司签订一份30年协议，将从2018年开始，每年从后者购买至多380亿立方米的天然气。

But a spokesman for PetroChina, the listed subsidiary of state-owned China National Petroleum Corp, China’s largest oil company, told the Financial Times on Wednesday that the deal would not be signed in the near future.

CNPC没有透露合同价格，而价格是这场谈判中的主要难点。俄罗斯媒体和官员此前则表示，这一协议的签署将是普京访华议程中的亮点。

【correctiong from Lucy Hornby】

在北京的行业消息人士表示，鉴于俄罗斯天然气工业股份公司的处境较为不利，中方在讨价还价时更加强硬。

China’s largest oil company, told the Financial Times on Wednesday that the deal would not be signed on this visit.

围绕该天然气协议的谈判已持续十多年时间，谈判在价格、天然气管道线路以及中国在俄罗斯项目中的股权等问题上遇到了障碍。

“We won’t be signing [on this visit],” said Mao Zefeng, spokesman for PetroChina.

“目前，进口价格与国内价格倒挂。我们在进口天然气方面已在亏损，我们不能再亏损了，”CNPC方面的发言人毛泽锋周三早些时候说。

“We won’t be signing,” said Mao Zefeng, spokesman for the company, which Russian media and officials had said was to sign a 30-year, $456bn deal to buy Russian gas from Gazprom during Mr Putin’s visit.

周二，中国还与俄罗斯正式签署了之前达成的液化天然气供应协议以及一个大规模煤炭合作项目。

“At the moment the import price and the domestic price are inverted. We are already losing money on imported gas, and we can’t lose more,”