Time for Russia's 'pivot to Asia'

The $400-billion, 30-year natural gas deal just announced by China and Russia is the biggest single trade agreement in history. With this deal, Russia has signaled a major and sharp pivot of its economic and strategic focus to Asia. Russia's "pivot to Asia" and dramatically enhanced relations with China, which this deal and related agreements signify, will have substantial long-term implications for Asia and more broadly for the Asia Pacific region.

China had signed the previous largest natural gas deal with Australia a dozen years ago, worth just $25 billion, the deal runs through to the end of the next decade.

Although accelerated because of some actions taken by the US against Russia and China, the Moscow-Beijing deal has been a decade in the making - and its significance extends far beyond the immediate time horizon.