Beijing, 18 March 2022 (TDI): Ministry of Commerce of China announced on Thursday that the country plans to continue its trade with Russia and Ukraine despite the ongoing conflict between the two countries.
The Ministry added that economic cooperation and trade will continue with both Russia and Ukraine based on equality and mutual benefit and respect.
No change in China’s trade with Russia and Ukraine: Ministry https://t.co/uIN8P2V0wq
— Long Dingbin龙定斌 (@LongDingbin) March 17, 2022
Before the conflict started, China and Russia enjoyed close trading relationships. Russia values its relationship with China given the market in the country for Russia’s agricultural goods, gas, oil, and, manufactured products.
For China, Russia offers an important inlet into Europe and is also a reliable source of energy for the country. In 2021 the trade turnover between both countries was $140 billion.
In the first two months of this year, the trade volume between Russia and China was $26.43 billion which is a 38.5% increase year on year. China has been Russia’s largest trade partner for 12 years.
Russia’s imports from China increased to $12.62 billion which is a 41.5% increase, while China’s imports from Russia increased to $13.81 billion, an increase of 35.8%, according to the General Administration of Customs.
As far as Ukraine is concerned China also enjoys a healthy relationship with the country. In 2021 imports from Ukraine to China grew to $72.82 billion while exports to Ukraine from China stood at $68.09 billion.
Additionally, China remains one of Ukraine’s top trading partners. It topped the countries importing from Ukraine in 2021. In the same year, China imported goods worth $8 billion from Ukraine, which showed an increase of 12.7% from the previous year.
Ukraine also remains one of the biggest importers of Chinese goods. In 2021 the country imported Chinese goods worth $10.97 billion, which equated to an increase of 31.9% year on year, according to Ukraine’s State Statistics Service.
Russia Ukraine Crisis
The Russia Ukraine Crisis is an ongoing conflict between both countries as a result of the Russian invasion on 24th February 2022.
