Russia's trade with China continues to grow faster than other countries

By Rhod Mackenzie

In 2023, the Russian Federation became the leader in terms of trade turnover growth among China's partners. This was announced on February 11 by Ivan Zhelohovtsev, the director of the first Asian department of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

He noted in an interview with RIA Novosti that China's trade dynamics have gone into the negative quite noticeably, unlike with many other countries, including the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea.

The diplomat highlighted that the trade turnover between the Russian Federation and China has enabled Russia to secure fourth place in the overall ranking of China's foreign trade partners. He added that over 90% of payments are made in national currency.

Zhelohovtsev stated that the trade between the two countries has surpassed the $200 billion target. He noted that the trade turnover between the two states is approximately 20 trillion rubles or 1.6 trillion yuan, as reported by Gazeta.Ru.
During a telephone conversation on February 8th, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping discussed the fact that trade turnover between Russia and China had exceeded the $200 billion target and reached a record figure of $227.7 billion. The leaders acknowledged that the good neighborly ties between the two countries are at an unprecedented high level. Putin and Xi Jinping highlighted the mutual interest of the Russian Federation and China in developing cooperation across various sectors, including industry, finance, energy, and infrastructure.

The trade turnover between Russia and China has shown stable growth, with a reported increase of 26.7% in the first 11 months of 2023, amounting to a record $218.17 billion on December 7. During January-November 2023, exports from China to the Russian Federation increased by 50.2%, while imports from Russia to China increased by 11.8%.

In November of the previous year, Alexander Daniltsev, the director of the Institute of Trade Policy at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, predicted that the trade turnover between the two countries would continue to grow in 2024 and could be further accelerated by rising energy prices.