The oil pipeline between China and Russia is to be finished this year, the Chinese foreign minister Yang Jiechi said on Mar 7.

The pipeline will then begin operation in 2011, Mr Jiechi said at a press conference.

China Daily has reported that the foreign minister said relations between China and Russia were a priority for his country and that China believed there was potential for development between the two countries.

He said that China and Russia held similar views on many regional and international issues and he believed they could cooperate further in the future.

The oil pipeline is part of the East Siberia to Pacific pipeline which is designed to pump 1.6 million barrels of oil per day from Siberia to the Asia Pacific region.

The agreement between the two countries to build the pipeline was based on oil from Russia being exchanged for a financial loan from China to build the pipeline.