Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev welcomed Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to St. Petersburg on Monday for a conference on trade and investment.

Business leaders from both countries also attended the conference.

During the meeting, Russia's major oil company Rosneft agreed to sell a 20 percent stake in its subsidiary to a Chinese company for 1.1 billion dollars.

The subsidiary has been developing the Verkhnechonsk oil field in East Siberia.

The oil field has an estimated reserve of 1.2 billion barrels and is expected to be a key source of Russia's oil exports to the Asia-Pacific region.

The deal was signed by executives from both companies in the presence of the two prime ministers.

At a news conference, Medvedev said that Russia and China reaffirmed their commitment to jointly developing Russia's Far East region.

Russia is also seeking cooperation from Japan in the energy sector and in the development of its Far East.

Analysts say Russia aims to obtain as much economic cooperation as possible from the 2 countries while its economy is in a dire situation due to sanctions by Western nations over Ukrainian issues.