Russia has become one of China’s top-five trading partners for the first time, as the two countries continue to boost cooperation at an unprecedented pace.
Trade turnover between Moscow and Beijing surged to record volumes in the period from January to June, reaching $114.5 billion, data released by the Chinese General Administration of Customs on Thursday showed.
The figure marked a 40.6% increase compared to a year ago, and took Russia into the list of China’s top-five trading partners for the first time, behind the US ($327.2 billion), Japan ($157 billion), South Korea ($153.4 billion), and Australia ($116.1 billion).
Exports and imports have increased at a double-digit pace since the beginning of the year and continue to accelerate. The figures represent the biggest rise since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, signaling that Russia is becoming China’s fastest-growing trade partner globally.
Soaring Russia-China economic cooperation is “natural” after Moscow pivoted trade from the EU to Asia following sweeping Western sanctions, according to the head of the Institute of Trade Policy at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, Aleksandr Daniltzev.
“Russia is mainly exporting commodities and a certain amount of finished goods,” he said. China, meanwhile, is supplying Russia with goods that were banned by international restrictions, including industrial equipment, Daniltzev noted.
Economic ties have been bolstered by the mutual decision to conduct the majority of transactions in the nations’ own currencies instead of the US dollar. Moscow and Beijing have both stepped up efforts to reduce dependence on the dollar and euro in international trade, against the backdrop of sanctions imposed on Russia.
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