Bilateral trade between Russia and China will reach a record 20 billion dollars this year. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has expressed such expectations. Russia is increasing bilateral relations with China in the face of Western boycott said CNN Business News. In his speech at the China-Russia Business Forum in Shanghai early this week, Russian Prime Minister Mishustin said, “I hope to be able to meet the target of bilateral trade of 20 billion dollars this year.”
If the bilateral trade target of 20 trillion dollars is met this year, it will be a unique achievement for both the countries. In 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a joint announcement that by 2024, bilateral trade will reach a record 20 trillion dollars. Bilateral trade touching $20 trillion means Asia’s largest economy will increase imports of agricultural products from Russia. In addition, Chinese car companies will increase local car production in Russia.
Moscow has been under large-scale Western sanctions since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Vladimir Putin’s Russia is largely isolated in the Western world. However, Beijing did not care about the West in its relationship with the Kremlin. Instead, Russia has tried to keep the economy running by increasing bilateral trade with allies like China and India. Last year, China’s bilateral trade with Russia reached a record 19 billion dollars. Bilateral trade increased by 30 percent compared to 2021. In 2022, China’s exports to Russia accounted for 3 percent of Asia’s top economy’s total trade. Russia’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) exports to China by rail more than doubled last year.
According to Russia’s state-owned oil extraction company Gazprom, China’s natural gas imports from Russia through the Power of Siberia pipeline increased by at least 50 percent in 2022. According to the data of China’s customs department, Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia as China’s largest supplier of crude oil. Mishustin is also scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. According to a report by China-based media Global Times, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak is hopeful that Russia’s energy supply to China will increase by 40 percent this year.
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