According to customs statistics released on Tuesday, Chinese imports of Russian oil last month reached their highest level since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as Beijing provides an economic lifeline to an increasingly isolated Kremlin.
With commerce between the two countries hitting a record $190 billion last year, China is Russia’s greatest commercial partner. Beijing said that China bought 9.71 million tonnes of oil from Russia in May, more than double its February 2022 imports.
With total commerce in May surging to levels unseen since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, the numbers suggest a deeperening of economic links between the two nations. They also take place in the backdrop of China’s recovering economy, which has now ended the stringent zero-Covid restrictions that were eating away at energy consumption in the latter part of last year.
At a conference in March, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced their “no limits” alliance and promised to increase commerce to $200 billion by 2023. According to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Russian energy exports to China are expected to increase by 40% this year.
In 2022, as a result of a wave of Western sanctions following Moscow’s incursion in Ukraine, Russia’s gas exports drastically decreased. Putin claimed the second quarter of last year had been “the most difficult” due to unprecedented sanctions while discussing the Russian economy this month.
Moscow resorted to alternate clients, notably China, with whom it is already connected through the Power of Siberia pipeline, while Europe searched for new energy sources. Putin said that “all agreements have been reached” about the enormous new Power of Siberia 2 project after his discussions with Xi.
The capacity of that pipeline, which is approximately equivalent to the whole capacity of the abandoned Nord Stream 2 project from Russia to Germany, may enable the yearly transportation of 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas to China.
Moscow is optimistic about the new pipeline’s future, but Beijing has yet to make a formal commitment.
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