Vladimir Putin made the comments after meeting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the first day of the two-day visit, his first foreign trip since he announced plans last month to reclaim the Russian presidency.
Russia is the world's largest energy producer, and discussions over pumping gas to China -- the world's top energy consumer -- were expected to top the agenda for his visit, during which he will also meet President Hu Jintao.
"We are close to the final stage of work on gas supplies to Chinese market," Putin told journalists.
"Those who sell always want to sell at a higher price, while those who buy, want to buy at a lower price. We need to reach a compromise which will satisfy both sides."
Russian gas giant Gazprom and China National Petroleum Company signed a framework agreement in 2009 that could eventually see almost 70 billion cubic metres of Russian gas sent to China annually for the next 30 years.
But talks have become bogged down in pricing disagreements and contrary to expectations, Hu's June visit to Moscow delivered no breakthrough.
Chinese officials said last November the prices backed by the two sides differed by $100 per 1,000 cubic metres.
Putin's spokesman played down the prospect of any breakthrough during the visit saying the two sides were "not in a hurry".
"It's important to reach agreement, but it is not necessary that it be done in the next few days," Dmitry Peskov told AFP by telephone.
Putin arrived in Beijing a day after Russia and China signed 16 economic and trade deals worth over $7 billion, which China said were "in the fields of technology transfer, research and development and mineral development".
The Chinese foreign ministry gave no further details of the agreements, which were signed at a summit Monday held ahead of Putin's visit.
China became Russia's top trading partner for the first time last year and the two countries want to nearly double trade to $100 billion by 2015 and then to $200 billion by 2020.
Russia and China set much store by their bilateral ties and are often viewed as partners in international diplomacy.
Both countries are veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council, and last week infuriated the West by blocking a UN resolution against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's deadly crackdown on protests.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this week Moscow and Beijing were ready to propose a new UN resolution on Syria that would condemn violence carried out both by al-Assad's regime and the rebel opposition.
On Tuesday, China's foreign ministry urged Syria to move faster to implement reforms, veering away from its longstanding policy of non-interference in the affairs of the country, which has been rocked by anti-government protests.
Putin has paid frequent visits to China -- where he is very well known -- in his capacities as president and then prime minister since he took power in 1999.
However, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said recently China's dependence on Russia for arms and energy imports had declined, and Moscow's position when dealing with Beijing has weakened as a result.
It pointed out in a report last week that China had found other partners in the oil and gas sectors in the Middle East, Africa or central Asia.
Russia's security service the FSB revealed last week that it had been holding a Chinese national identified as Tong Shengyong for the past year on espionage charges linked to Russia's S-300 surface-to-air missiles.
Neither the Kremlin nor Beijing, a major purchaser of Russian weapons, have issued any comment, possibly to try to sideline the issue during Putin's visit.