Russia is on track to supply over 100 million tonnes of coal to China in 2023, a record not seen before, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on December 15.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing after co-chairing a meeting of the Russia-China Energy Cooperation Committee with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, Novak said bilateral trade and investment ties have been deepening.

"China is Russia's key partner in the Asia-Pacific region, both in terms of trade volumes and cooperation levels, as well as the implementation of joint investment projects between our two countries," Novak said.

Russia's projected volume would mark a 50% jump from 2022, when around 67 million tonnes of Russian coal went to China.

Peter Bobyrev, head of coal at Russia's energy ministry, said in November exports to China could "quite possibly" reach 100-102 million tonnes this year.

China relies on imported coal to meet domestic demand. Strong demand from China has underpinned Russian coal export earnings even as Western nations curtailed energy imports from Moscow.

Novak said energy cooperation was a "priority area" for Russia-China ties. Energy has accounted for 1/3 of bilateral trade, which exceeded $200 billion in the first 11 months.

In January-October, China's coal imports from Russia totaled 87.2 million tonnes, soaring 61.4% year on year, Chinese customs data showed. Russia now has been the second largest coal supplier for China only after Indonesia, from which China imported 180.77 million tonnes over the same period.