China’s 2025 trade with Russia posts first decline in 5 years

[BEIJING] In 2025, China’s trade with Russia pulled back from a record level the year earlier, and dropped for the first time in five years, Chinese data showed on Wednesday (Jan 14).

The trade totalled 1.63 trillion yuan (S$300.8 billion). The decline followed a slide in Russian demand for Chinese cars and a drop in the value of China’s imports of Russian crude oil.

China has thrown a major economic lifeline to Russia since it was hit by sanctions, following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

It bought Russian oil, coal and gas, and sold goods – from cars to electronics – to its northern neighbour.

Data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed that two-way trade in yuan terms in 2025 fell 6.5 per cent, from a record 1.7 billion yuan in 2024.

The downturn ended four consecutive years of growth. The last decline was in 2020 when Covid-19-related disruptions affected trade.

Chinese exports to Russia in 2025 dropped 9.9 per cent, while imports from Russia slipped 3.4 per cent.

In dollar terms, the value of bilateral trade reached US$228.1 billion, down 6.9 per cent year on year.

During December alone, China’s exports to Russia grew by 2.2 per cent, snapping an eight-month decline, while the growth of imports picked up sharply to 17.1 per cent.

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The latest data provided only headline figures in two-way trade. A more detailed breakdown will be released at a later date.

But the data for the first 11 months of 2025 showed that the value of China’s crude oil imports from Russia fell 19.6 per cent to 328.5 billion yuan, compared with the same period in 2024, amid falling oil prices, Reuters’ calculations showed.

Meanwhile, China’s vehicle exports to Russia, in volume terms, fell 46 per cent year on year from January to November, the China Passenger Car Association said, as Moscow raised the levy on Chinese cars that had flooded its market.

Russia has sought to reverse the slowdown in bilateral trade. The two countries signed more than 20 co-operation agreements covering energy, aerospace, artificial intelligence and agriculture in September, when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing.

The two strategic partners also gave their blessing to the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, a planned Russia-Chinese natural gas project.

The pipeline could one day deliver an additional 50 billion cubic metres a year of Russian gas through Mongolia, from the Arctic gas fields of Yamal. REUTERS