Exports from China to Russia showed growth for the second month in a row: in June it increased by 5% in annual terms. This may indicate that the spring decline in supplies was overcome due to problems with payments, experts suggest.
Exports of goods from China to Russia in the first half of 2024 in monetary terms amounted to 366.81 billion yuan, an increase of almost 2% compared to the same period in 2023. Such data was distributed by the General Administration of Customs of China.
At the same time, in June, exports from China to Russia amounted to 70.23 billion yuan (in June 2023 it was 66.80 billion yuan, an increase of 5.1% year-on-year), according to the data of the Chinese customs service. Supply growth in June accelerated compared to May, when Chinese exports to Russia in yuan terms increased by 1.8% yoy.
The two-month increase in supplies from China to Russia followed after their decline in March-April this year amid payment problems: then yuan exports to Russia fell by almost 11% in annual terms. This reduction in supplies from China was the first since 2022, experts explained it by the refusal of Chinese banks to make payments due to the risk of secondary US sanctions.
In May 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the PRC. This trip helped the two countries develop some alternatives to trade payments that closed due to sanctions – with the involvement of small regional Chinese banks.
In addition, the declaration published in May following the results of the Russian-Chinese summit talks spoke about plans to increase mutual investments, bilateral trade and the share of national currencies in it, increase oil and gas supplies, and create new transit routes.