Reuters
- China's trade with Russia jumped 26% to a record $240 billion last year, according to customs data published Friday.
- The ties between the two countries have strengthened since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
- Meanwhile, China’s trade with the US fell for the first time in four years.
Trade between China and Russia ballooned to a new record last year with the economic ties between Beijing and Moscow strengthening even as the war in Ukraine rages on.
Dollar-denominated commerce between the two countries climbed 26% from $190 billion to $240 billion in 2023, data published by China's General Administration of Customs on Friday showed.
China has been snapping up cheap Russian oil since the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, with the Urals benchmark now trading at an $18-a-barrel discount compared to Brent crude, according to data from Refinitiv.
Meanwhile, Russia has loaded up on smartphones from Chinese retailers like Xiaomi and Realme after US and European brands exited the market.
Overall, Chinese exports to Russia jumped 47% in 2023, while imports from there rose 13%, per Friday's data.
China has taken a neutral stance on the war in Ukraine, and both it and Russia touted the two countries' "no limits" partnership last year.
In October, presidents Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin met in Beijing, with the Chinese premier slamming other countries' decision to impose sanctions in his opening remarks.
"Ideological confrontation, geopolitical rivalry and bloc politics are not the choice for us, but we stand against economic sanctions, economic coercion, and decoupling and supply chain disruptions," he said.
Friday's data also showed that commerce between the US and China fell for the first time since 2019 last year.
Total trade between the two countries dropped 12% to $664 billion, the General Administration of Customs said, with its statistics covering a 12-month period where Washington ramped up its sanctions on Chinese AI chipmakers, and Beijing hit back by imposing restrictions of its own.