China’s state-owned petroleum companies are also unhappy with Russian terms. Gazprom insists that China pay world-market prices for Russian gas. Meanwhile, China hedges its bets by importing more gas from Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Australia, the Middle East and other non-Russian sources.
If Russia and China agree on a major long-term energy-supply deal, it will consolidate their strategic partnership. If they fail and Russia sends most of its gas and oil instead to Japan, South Korea, the US and other energy-short countries, a power equation less favorable to China will emerge in the region.
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=9418