China-Russia Trade Surpasses $1 Trillion for the First Time

Since China joined the World Trade Organization, Chinese-made products have been sold all over the world.

Due to the vast scale of our country's manufacturing industry, we produce the majority of the world's goods, and China has long become the world's largest trading nation, with the highest trade surplus globally.

ASEAN, the European Union, and the United States are our top three trading partners.

In recent years, trade between China and Russia has been growing rapidly, and there is a strong complementarity in industrial structure.

Since 2022, the trade volume between China and Russia has increased further, and it has now exceeded 1 trillion yuan for the first time.

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs, the trade volume between China and Russia in the first ten months of 2022 reached 153.9 billion US dollars, equivalent to 1.01 trillion yuan in RMB, surpassing the trade volume data for the whole year of 2021.

It took only ten months for the trade volume between China and Russia to break through the 1 trillion yuan mark for the first time, with a year-on-year increase of 35%.

It should be noted that China has been the largest trading partner of Russia for 12 consecutive years.

According to Russian forecasts, the trade volume between China and Russia is expected to exceed 200 billion US dollars in 2022.

Based on the data for the first three quarters of this year, the trade volume between China and Russia was 136 billion US dollars.

Among them, China's exports to Russia were 52.2 billion US dollars, with a growth rate of over 10%, while China's imports from Russia were 83.8 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year increase of over 50%.

It is evident that China's imports from Russia are higher and growing faster, resulting in a higher trade surplus for Russia with China, reaching 31.6 billion US dollars in the first three quarters.

It should be noted that the trade surplus of 31.6 billion US dollars is more than double that of the same period last year, mainly due to the significant increase in energy prices this year, from which Russia has benefited, and its foreign trade surplus has increased significantly.

In addition, Russia's exports to Europe have also been growing rapidly.

In the first half of this year, Russia's exports to Europe exceeded 120 billion US dollars, with a trade surplus of up to 92 billion US dollars.

There is a strong complementarity in trade between China and Russia.

Russia's economic pillar is energy exports, benefiting from its abundant oil and natural gas resources, but its light industry is relatively weak, and the automotive industry has also been impacted.

China, due to its large economic size and rapid industrial development, has a significant demand for energy, especially oil and natural gas, which are imported from abroad every year.

At the same time, Chinese manufacturing has a significant advantage in the mid-to-low-end industries, with high exports of home appliances, food, clothing, footwear, toys, smartphones, and automobiles, which are also the goods that Russia lacks the most.

According to data, the main products China exports to Russia include smartphones, industrial equipment, toys, footwear, clothing, home appliances, computers, automobiles, etc.

Chinese mobile phone brands have a significant market share in Russia, such as Honor, Xiaomi, Huawei, OPPO, and vivo.

According to data from Russian electronics companies, Chinese brand mobile phones account for about 55% of the Russian market.

In addition, Chinese brand automobiles also have a high sales performance in Russia.

According to data from Russian market analysis institutions, Chinese brand automobiles accounted for 33% of the Russian market in November this year, including Chery, Haval, Geely, etc., with monthly sales exceeding 16,000 units.

So, what products does China import from Russia?

From trade information, China mainly imports oil, natural gas, and coal from Russia, with these energy products accounting for up to 70%.

In addition, timber, copper, and seafood are also imported.

In the first ten months of this year, China's total oil imports reached 413 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 2.7%.

Among them, China imported more than 71 million tons of oil from Russia, with a year-on-year increase of over 9%, and Russia's oil exports to China accounted for 34% of its total oil exports.

In the same period, China imported more than 73 million tons of oil from Saudi Arabia, with only a 0.3% increase.

Although Saudi Arabia remains China's largest oil supplier, the increase in oil imports from Russia is gradually increasing, and the gap is significantly narrowing.

This year, China's oil imports from Russia also took into account the price factor.

In October, the price of Russian oil imports was $83 per barrel, more than 10% cheaper than oil from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.