Russia has risen to seventh place in the list of trade partners of China

Russia became China’s seventh partner in terms of trade turnover in the first quarter of 2023, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin stated this, speaking at a plenary meeting of the Russian-Chinese business forum in Shanghai.

“China has been Russia’s main trading partner for more than ten years. And in the first three months of this year, our positions in a similar Chinese list have also changed – they have risen from tenth to seventh place, ”he said. The volume of mutual trade in 2021–2022 grew by about a third annually, Mishustin recalled. Last year, the turnover amounted to about $190 billion. According to the results of the first quarter of 2023, the turnover increased by almost a quarter, to $52 billion, the prime minister said.

China’s foreign trade turnover in 2022 amounted to $6.31 trillion. This is 4.4% more than a year earlier. China’s main partner is the United States. The volume of trade with the States last year was $759 billion, followed by South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Turnovers with these jurisdictions are almost identical: they amounted to more than $300 billion with each country in 2022.

“I am sure that this year we will fulfill the task set by the heads of state, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Xi Jinping, to bring mutual trade to $200 billion,” Mishustin stressed.

The Federal Customs Service, against the backdrop of sanctions last year, stopped publishing data on trade volumes by country. As a representative of the customs service told Vedomosti, in 2022 the trade turnover between Russia and China increased by 28% compared to the previous year. Türkiye became the second trading partner, previously this position was occupied by Germany. Turnover with Turkey increased by 84%, the FCS specified.

The key issue that Russia and China have to solve is the improvement of the logistics infrastructure, the Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Qiang drew attention (the text of his report was announced by the Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao). In particular, it is necessary to expand checkpoints, equip border crossings with modern equipment, and so on.

Mishustin also noted this problem. “Russia and China share a long land border. And its infrastructure needs to be improved,” the prime minister said. To do this, according to him, it is necessary to increase the capacity of transport arteries, modernize checkpoints, expand air traffic and unlock the potential of the Northern Sea Route as the shortest route from Asia to Europe.

The nominal growth in trade volumes is accompanied by qualitative transformations, Mishustin noted. First of all, reducing dependence on the dollar and other Western currencies. In 2021, about a quarter of bilateral settlements were carried out in national currencies, in 2022 – almost two-thirds, the prime minister said. “We will continue to increase the independence of bilateral financial cooperation and thereby strengthen economic sovereignty,” he concluded.