China helps Russia survive Western sanctions amid Ukraine war

Moscow: Even as the war with Ukraine continues to drain Russia’s resources, President Vladimir Putin has relied heavily on China to keep the Russian economy afloat.

With the Chinese economy requiring increasingly high amounts of energy, the Russia-Ukraine war has provided China with a golden opportunity to buy cheap Russian oil apart from coal and natural gas.

The booming trade with China has helped to keep the Russian economy afloat even as the Ukraine war and the subsequent sanctions by the West exacts a heavy toll on Russia.

China’s trade with Russia has increased by leaps and bounds since the start of the Ukraine war with both exports and imports registering double-digit jumps – in annual terms – over the first two months of 2023.

According to customs data, China’s exports to Russia have jumped 19.8% to a total of $15 billion. Imports, on the other hand, saw a massive increase of 31.3% to stand at $18.65 billion. These numbers are a clear indicator that annual bilateral trade between Russia and China is on track to go over $200 billion this year.

Bilateral trade between China and Russia had grown by almost a third to hit a record high in 2022 despite Western sanctions against the Russian government.

According to statistics released by the Russian government, Russia was the biggest trading partner of China in 2022.

China has been competing with India to become the biggest buyer of Russian oil, and has already surpassed the European Union (EU) as the top importer of Russian agricultural products.

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