China Premier Li Keqiang's trip to Moscow is expected to net as many as 50 trade deals, as sanctions spur Russia to accelerate its growing ties with the mainland.

"From the Chinese point of view, it's an opportune moment to strengthen its ties to Russia as Russia is under pressure to find major new markets outside Europe and the U.S.," said Rajiv Biswas, chief economist for Asia-Pacific at IHS. He noted Russia was hit hard by capital flight earlier this year amid tensions with Ukraine and faces a recession and a difficult outlook next year as oil prices have declined.

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While as an energy importer, the mainland is concerned with energy security, "China has quite diverse economic ties around the world. It's not under the same pressure as Russia," he said.