Russia-China trade smashes record – customs data

Trade between Russia and China has soared this year, reaching a record $172.4 billion between January and November, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs, released on Wednesday.

It represents a 32% increase compared to last year’s figures. Data shows that, in November alone, trade turnover between the two countries reached $18.2 billion.

China exported $67.3 billion worth of goods to Russia during the reporting period, an increase of 13.4% compared to the same period in 2021, while shipments from Russia to China surged by 47.5% to $105.072 billion.

Commerce has benefitted from Beijing’s increased purchases of Russia’s energy resources. In response to Western sanctions, Moscow offered discounts on its fossil fuels to secure new buyers, and Beijing has been taking advantage of them over the past several months.

Chinese imports of Russian coal between January and October surged to 53 million tons, making Russia its second-largest coal supplier after Indonesia. Beijing has also been stocking up on Russian oil, with imports surging 9.5% to nearly 72 million tons in the first 10 months of the year.

Moscow and Beijing had previously set a goal of increasing mutual trade to $200 billion by 2024. Beijing’s ambassador to Moscow recently noted, however, that turnover could hit that level later this year.

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