Chinese imports from Russia fell in July, marking the first monthly decline since February 2021. Imports of oil and other goods continued to grow after the start of the conflict in Ukraine, according to Chinese customs data.
Last month, Chinese imports from Russia fell 8% to $9.2 billion from a year earlier, compared with a 15.7% rise in June, according to Reuters calculations based on data from the General Administration of Customs.
China buys Russian oil, coal and some metals at discounts. Last month, China’s total imports fell 12.4% due to weaker domestic demand, well above analysts’ expectations for a 5.0% drop. Exports to the terrorist country in July increased by 52% to $10.28 billion, which is much slower than the 90.9% growth recorded in June.
Although China’s exports to Russia held up relatively well (demand in other countries decreased), they accounted for a small share of total exports — only 3% in January-July. The volume of bilateral trade between the two countries fell to $19.49 billion in July from $20.83 billion in June, which became the highest figure since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
We will remind, on August 5-6 in Saudi Arabia, in Jeddah, negotiations were held regarding the peaceful settlement of the full-scale war in Ukraine. Representatives of more than 40 countries took part in them, in particular, European countries, the USA and China, Russia was not invited. At the summit, the deepening of Beijing’s differences with Moscow regarding the resolution of the Russian Federation’s full-scale war against Ukraine became evident.
Read also: “Beijing may start moving towards the USA”: Pavlo Klimkin on why Ukraine should think about options for the future
9
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram