Russia and China signed several energy deals Wednesday, but appeared to make little progress on the central issue of sales of Russian gas to China , officials said.

The two countries signed agreements on cooperation in coal and electricity following meetings between top officials in Moscow .

Russia, the world's largest energy producer, has been boosting ties to the huge Chinese economy over the past several years, but the two sides have repeatedly failed to reach a final agreement on gas supplies amid disagreement over price. The urgency for Russia to sell its gas to China has increased with falling demand and regulatory pressure in the European Union, Russia 's most lucrative market.

In late October, state-controlled gas-export monopoly OAO Gazprom announced it was accelerating plans to spend $38 billion developing a gas field in the country's far east and a pipeline leading to a liquefied natural gas plant at the Pacific port of Vladivostok .

Discussions are continuing over the price for gas supplies and whether it will be delivered by pipeline or as LNG, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told reporters Wednesday, Russian wire services reported.

"You know that there are two routes: eastern and western. The eastern route has alternatives. These are either supplies of liquefied natural gas or pipeline gas," he said, adding that the two projects aren't mutually exclusive.

Russia and China also hailed progress in other energy deals between the countries. Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Wang Qishan said an agreement would be signed within days on the construction of the second phase of the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant, Interfax reported. Mr. Dvorkovich said China had proposed that Russia take part in the construction of nuclear power plants in third countries.

Russian state-controlled oil firm OAO Rosneft said its chief executive, Igor Sechin, and Mr. Wang on Tuesday discussed an intergovernmental agreement on creating favorable conditions for the construction and use of an oil-refining and petrochemicals plant in China .

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will meet Thursday with Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev.

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