Trade between China and Russia rose 26% YoY last year... Record-high trade volume

Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia's close ties with China have led to a 26% increase in trade compared to the previous year, marking the largest trade volume ever recorded.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China on the 13th, last year, the trade volume between China and Russia reached $240.11 billion (approximately 316 trillion KRW), a 26.3% increase compared to the previous year. This is the first time bilateral trade has exceeded $200 billion (about 263 trillion KRW).

The year-on-year trade growth rate between China and Russia has recorded over 20% for three consecutive years, with 35.8% in 2021, 29.3% in 2022, and continuing in 2023.

The trade volume between the two countries also increased from $146.88 billion (about 193 trillion KRW) in 2021 to $190 billion (about 250 trillion KRW) in 2022.

Last year, China's exports to Russia rose 46.9% year-on-year to $110.97 billion (about 146 trillion KRW), while imports increased by 12.7% to $129.14 billion (about 170 trillion KRW).

China mainly exported automobiles, smartphones, industrial equipment and special machinery, toys, air conditioners, and computers, while importing raw materials such as petroleum, natural gas, coal, copper, timber, and seafood.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia has significantly depended on China by shifting its sources of necessary imports from the West to China.

Meanwhile, China's total exports last year amounted to $3.38002 trillion (about 4,444 trillion KRW), a 4.6% decrease compared to the previous year, and total imports were $2.5568 trillion (3,362 trillion KRW), down 5.5% year-on-year. This marks the first annual decline in China's exports since 2016.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.