Economic and trade relations between China and Russia have improved, even despite all the hurdles. Trade volume, for example, increased by 32 per cent between January and November 2022, reaching 172.406 billion US dollars. In recent years, Chinese-Russian economic and trade cooperation has deepened in many new areas, which is greatly beneficial under the current, difficult circumstances.

In the last two or three years, China-Russia relations have markedly developed although the pandemic, coupled with the crisis induced by the Ukraine-Russia war, posed many new challenges, such as raw material price hikes, disruptions in logistics and shipping, or the ruble’s widely fluctuating exchange rate.

According to a report, China-funded enterprises in Russia have played a crucial role in enabling the two countries to overcome a series of difficulties and achieve the trade targets set by the two heads of state. This is proof of Chinese-Russian economic and trade cooperation growing stronger and better, said Zhou Lichun, president of the Russia-China Chamber of Commerce.

Figures released by China’s General Administration of Customs, trade volume between China and Russia increased by 32 per cent year-on-year from January to November 2022, reaching 172.406 billion US dollars.

„This demonstrates remarkable resilience thanks to pro-growth efforts made by both China and Russia this year,” economic researcher Song Kui told the Global Times.

Trade and economic cooperation between China and Russia has expanded in the past few years. Since the China-Russia eastern pipeline opened in December 2019, other large-scale strategic projects have also been implemented. A major development related to the Moscow underground system, known as a key infrastructure project, was successfully completed until the end of 2021. In June 2022, a new international traffic route was established with the official opening of the Heilongjiang bridge, the first cross-border highway bridge between the two countries. The project has also boosted the flow of trade.

China is currently the primary trading partner of the Russian Far East, Siberia, the Ural, the north eastern and other federal regions.

China and Russia are important strategic partners on the oil and gas market, with energy cooperation continuing to play a major role. China imports the most energy from Russia. In 2022 February, the China National Petroleum Company and Rosnaft signed another agreement to guarantee supply to the oil refineries in western China. At the same time, the two countries also signed a new agreement on natural gas deliveries, after which annual gas deliveries exceeded 15 billion cubic metres in 2022, and are anticipated to surpass 22 billion cubic metres in 2023.