"We are going to sign three agreements tomorrow [Tuesday] afternoon, and the next day we will make an announcement," said Chen Geng, president of CNPC and chairman of its Hong Kong-listed unit PetroChina, Monday.

Chen, who declined to give further details, was speaking after announcing PetroChina's annual earnings results.

Putin is scheduled to visit Beijing today, and mainland officials have signaled they would like to make progress on discussions about Russia building oil and gas pipelines to China, most notably one to carry Siberian oil to China.

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The former Cold War enemies have evolved into economic and political partners since the Soviet collapse.

China, a leading customer for Russian arms and oil, says it expects to boost imports of Russian industrial machinery.

The two sides announced a target in 2004 of boosting trade to US$60 billion to US$80 billion (HK$468 billion to HK$624 billion) by 2010. China's trade with Russia grew 37 percent last year, totaling US$29.1 billion.

"Sino-Russian trade has got on a fast track with increasing cooperation methods and expanding cooperation fields," Liu Guchang, ambassador to Russia, was quoted by Xinhua News Agency as saying. ASSOCIATED PRESS