????另外需要注意的一點是，中俄兩國在這筆交易中并不是處在平等的地位上。過去十年間，包括此次天然氣供應協議在內，俄羅斯曾經三次在有需要的時候與中國達成數十億美元的能源交易。2005年，中國國家開發銀行（China Development Bank）與中國進出口銀行（Export-Import Bank of China）成為俄羅斯石油公司（Rosneft）的最后貸款人，為這家俄羅斯國有石油公司提供60億美元以石油為抵押的貸款，幫助它收購俄羅斯私有石油公司尤科斯（Yukos）的主要生產資產。

????四年后，中國國家開發銀行向俄羅斯石油公司和俄羅斯國有管道運營商俄羅斯石油運輸公司（Transneft）提供了250億美元以石油為抵押的貸款。當時正值全球金融危機，石油價格暴跌，信貸緊縮，這兩家俄羅斯公司都陷入困境。這幾筆交易不僅加深了兩國的能源關系，同時也意味著在這種關系中，主動權正在從俄羅斯向中國轉移。

????不論到底哪一方做出了更多讓步，在國內和國際舞臺上，中國兩國都把自己描繪成獲勝者。這次的天然氣交易預示著中俄兩國的能源關系開始充分發揮潛力。2013年，俄羅斯是中國第四大原油供應國，未來將成為它南方鄰邦重要的天然氣進口來源。從長期來看，這份協議將分別給俄羅斯和中國帶來更可靠的供應與需求保障。而從短期而言，天然氣協議的主要好處表現在政治方面。俄羅斯可以獲得中國這個強有力的盟友，而中國也獲得了又一次機會，彰顯出它在世界舞臺日益擴大的經濟與政治影響力。

????本文作者鄧麗嘉是布魯金斯學會約翰?L?桑頓中國研究中心研究員。她一直致力于研究中國公司的海外擴張、中國的能源和外交政策以及中國政府與企業的關系，之前曾在美國中央情報局擔任能源分析師。（財富中文網）

????譯者：劉進龍/汪皓

????It is also important to note that this is not a marriage among equals. The natural gas supply agreement is the third time in the past decade that the Russians have brokered a multi-billion dollar energy deal with the Chinese in a time of need. In 2005, the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China were lenders of last resort to Rosneft, providing the Russian national oil company with a $6 billion oil-backed loan to help fund the purchase of the main production asset of a private Russian oil company, Yukos.

????Four years later, the China Development Bank extended oil-backed loans worth $25 billion to Rosneft and Transneft, the state-owned pipeline operator, when oil prices collapsed and credit crunch during the global financial crisis left both Russian companies in a world of hurt. These deals have not only deepened bilateral energy relations, but also underscored a shift in power in the relationship away from Russia and toward China.

????Regardless of which country may have conceded more, both countries can present themselves as winners to domestic and international audiences. The gas deal signifies that the China-Russia energy relationship is starting to live up to its full potential. Russia, which was China’s fourth largest crude oil supplier in 2013, is poised to become a major source of natural gas imports for its southern neighbor. This arrangement should provide Russia with greater security of demand and China with greater security of supply in the long-term. In the short-term, the main benefits of the gas agreement are political. Russia can claim a powerful friend in China, and China can point to another indicator of its growing economic and political clout on the world stage.

????Erica Downs is a fellow in the John L. Thornton China Center at Brookings Institution. She focuses on the international expansion of Chinese companies and China’s energy and foreign policies as well as government-business relations in China, and was previously was an energy analyst at the CIA.