Sino-Russian trade at a year high after slow start

Trade between China and Russia has reached its highest point this year in July, ending a period of decline in the first half of 2025 that kept it below last year’s levels.

The Chinese customs data comes after U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at imposing new tariffs on China, similar to the 25% duties he slapped on India for buying Russian oil. Both nations have signaled they have no intention to quit energy imports from Russia.

Sino-Russian trade at a year high after slow start

This year’s bilateral trade between the People’s Republic and the Russian Federation hit its highest mark last month, the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) announced. It totaled $19.14 billion, an 8.7% increase over June, the stats show.

The spike follows weaker results from the first seven months through July, when trade fell by 8.1% over the same period of 2024, to $125.8 billion. According to the data quoted by the Chinese press and Russian media, July’s figures were also down year-on-year, by 2.8%.

China’s imports from Russia stood at $10.1 billion last month, a 4.02% increase from a year earlier, while Chinese exports to the country dropped by 8.91% to $9.1 billion, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) noted in an article.

China’s exports amounted to $56.23 billion by the end of July, marking an 8.5% decrease. At the same time, imports of Russian goods to China fell by 7.7% to $69.57 billion, Russia’s official TASS news agency reported, highlighting:

“Russia’s trade surplus in January-July reached $13.34 billion, which is approximately the same as during the corresponding period of 2024.”

Chinese exports in July rose by 9.6% to $9.08 billion, and its imports were up by 7.8%, reaching $10.05 billion, TASS also detailed.

Trade between Beijing and Moscow has been growing over the past years. It increased by 26.3% in 2023, to reach $240.11 billion, and set a new record in 2024, when bilateral exchange exceeded $244 billion in value.

Defiant China defends oil imports from Russia

The latest Chinese customs figures have been released after President Donald Trump indicated China could be next in line to face additional U.S. duties, similar to the 25% punitive tariffs he recently slapped on India over buying oil from Russia.

After Indian officials defied Trump’s warnings, vowing to continue to import Russian oil, the Chinese government did pretty much the same on Friday. In a statement to Bloomberg, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared:

“It is legitimate and lawful for China to conduct normal economic, trade and energy cooperation with all countries around the world, including Russia. We will continue to adopt reasonable energy security measures in accordance with our national interests.”

Crude oil, natural gas, and coal account for the biggest part of Russian exports to the People’s Republic, followed by other fuels and raw materials like copper ore and timber. China ships to Russia a broader range of products, from cars, smartphones, and industrial machinery to toys and clothing.

Last year, Russia sent a record 108.5 million tonnes of crude to China, which amounts to almost a fifth of Beijing’s total oil purchases, according to Chinese data.

SCMP pointed out that Russian oil deliveries fell in July over the previous month, failing to reach 4 million tonnes. This figure comes from Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service, the newspaper remarked, as the Chinese customs are yet to publish their official oil trade data on Aug. 20.

According to the Ukrainian estimates, Russia shipped 32 million tonnes to China between January and July this year, which is 4 million tonnes less than the quantities delivered during the first seven months of last year.

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