Russia continues to increase its trade with China, which has grown nearly 40% year-to-date to $53.84 billion, RBC reports citing Chinese customs data.
Imports from China increased 2.4 times in March alone. Russia began supplying China with 33% more goods than a year earlier, and this is the largest increase in trade among China’s major partner countries. China’s trade volume with Singapore increased by 23% and with Canada by 17%. The growth of exports to China is associated with the reorientation of fuel supplies, mainly coal and oil.
However, Russia also continues to significantly increase its imports from China, which now stand at 40%, compared to 25% in the past. Experts point out that after the withdrawal of Western companies from the Russian market, Chinese products are increasingly replacing them in the market. Iikka Korhonen, director of the Institute for Transition Economies at the Bank of Finland, notes that in terms of imports, Russia could become second only to North Korea in terms of dependence on China. .
With the growth of trade between Russia and China, Russian banks are running out of yuan. Credit institutions are buying record amounts of Chinese currency from the Central Bank of Russia: in early April, banks immediately requested 2.8 billion yuan from the Central Bank. This has led to a shortage of Chinese liquidity and puts additional pressure on the ruble, leading to its weakening.
Earlier, the regional chief reported that US intelligence had accused China of planning to supply arms to Russia under a veil of secrecy, hiding behind civilian supplies. According to the American edition of the Washington Post, China planned to transfer military equipment to the Russian Federation.
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