Chinese credit rating company Dagong launched a new venture with Russian and US partners yesterday to challenge the dominance of the major rating agencies that were blamed for contributing to the global financial crisis.

Officials said the Universal Credit Rating Group is aimed at "providing some balance" to the industry, traditionally cornered by Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch.

China and Russia are to deepen their existing energy industry cooperation after signing a deal to supply oil to China worth $270 billion over the next 25 years.

The deal was signed on Friday between Rosneft and China National Petroleum Corporation,the country's largest State-owned oil and gas producer. The deal will see the supply of 365 million metric tons of oil to China starting from next month, according to media reports.

China is stepping up the expansion of its new over-the-counter equity exchange system in its efforts to create a multi-level capital market.

The National Equities Exchange and Quotations - the so-called "third board", an equity exchange system for small- and medium-sized enterprises - is to expand its pilot sites this year, an official told China Daily on Friday. It is China's third national equity exchange after Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange the only over-the-counter market regulated by China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is now the second-largest investor after the state in VTB, Russia’s state bank, following the privatisation of a 14 per cent government stake this month.

It was the second significant stake in a state bank to be sold as part of plans to privatise Russian banks announced in June 2012. In September, the central bank sold a 7.6 per cent share in Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, bringing the government ownership to 50 per cent plus one share.

China's trust industry saw its assets surge 64.72% YoY to RMB 8.73 trillion (USD1.4trln) at the end of the first quarter, according to figures from the China Trustee Association. The figure reflected a 16.87% increase from the end of last year.

The trust asset realized RMB 11.07 billion in gross profit in the first quarter, 43.41% more than in the same period of 2012.

“We like Russia and think it’s the cheapest way to buy into the oil and gas story. It’s cheap in both relative and absolute terms,” says Philip Poole, global head of strategy at HSBC Asset Management.

“The Russian issues are well known and that continues to dampen interest. But if you think the world economy is on the mend, then it is a cheap way to gain exposure to a cyclical market.”