Russian media: Record breaking trade volume between China and Russia

According to the website of the Russian Communist Youth League Truth Daily on May 9th, data released by the General Administration of Customs of China shows that from January to April 2024, the trade volume between China and Russia was 76.581 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 4.7%. Among them, China imported 43.847 billion US dollars from Russia, a year-on-year increase of 10.2%; China's exports to Russia amounted to 32.734 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 1.9%. Therefore, Russia's trade surplus is approximately $11.1 billion.

Overall, in 2023, the bilateral trade volume between China and Russia reached 240.1 billion US dollars. The trade volume in 2022 is over 190 billion US dollars. But this has not yet reached its limit. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov stated last year that this number is expected to reach $300 billion by 2030.

At the same time, the proportion of China Russia trade settled in local currency has increased to 92%.

According to reports, Georgi Ostapkovich, an expert at the Institute of Statistics and Knowledge Economy at the Russian Higher School of Economics, said, "China is Russia's non competitive economic partner. China's share in our foreign trade has reached 35%, while just two or three years ago, its share was only 15%. And this proportion is continuing to rise."

Yekaterina Zaklyazminskaya, an expert at the Institute of China and Modern Asia at the Russian Academy of Sciences, added, "According to statistics, about one-third of Russia's imported goods come from China. China is one of China's five major trading partners."

According to reports, in 2023, Russia's main imports from China include automobiles and their components, mechanical equipment, smartphones, computers, clothing, and footwear. Russia exports crude oil, natural gas, coal, copper, wood, and seafood to China.

Igor Yushkov, an expert from the Russian National Energy Security Foundation, said, "In terms of pipeline oil, China maintains a leading position. The annual oil transportation volume of the 'Skovorodino Daqing' pipeline reaches 30 million tons. In addition, about 10 million tons of crude oil are transported to China through Kazakhstan every year. In addition, the amount of oil transported to China by sea is also increasing."

According to statistics, in 2023, China imported 107 million tons of crude oil from Russia (a year-on-year increase of 24%) and 8 million tons of liquefied natural gas (a year-on-year increase of 23%). In the same year, Russia supplied 22.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China through the Trans Siberian Power pipeline, which is approximately 1.5 times that of 2022.