China reported a 9.1% drop in trade with Russia, totaling $106.48 billion in the first half of 2025.
The accelerating decline is a setback for Moscow, which increasingly relies on China economically since invading Ukraine. After surging in 2022 and 2023, trade between Russia and China has sharply declined. Bilateral trade reached a record $237 billion in early 2024 but slowed to just 1.9% growth that year and is now in decline. Russia’s exports to China have stagnated, while its demand for Chinese goods—especially cars and appliances—has dropped as its economy stalls.
China had hoped to boost car sales in Russia as a way around Western trade restrictions, but steep Russian taxes on imports and a weak ruble made Chinese vehicles unaffordable for most buyers. U.S. warnings to Chinese finance firms about aiding Russia also slowed exports.
Despite this, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi praised China-Russia ties as “stable, mature, and strategically valuable” during a meeting with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Sunday, emphasizing the need for deeper cooperation amid global instability. Ukraine’s Ukrinform noted that despite two days of meetings, Wang and Lavrov gave no sign they discussed the Ukraine war, instead grouping the “Ukrainian crisis” with issues like the Korean Peninsula and Iran’s nuclear program.
The decline in trade comes after overall growth in Russia-China commerce slowed sharply in 2024, rising just 1.9% year-on-year.https://t.co/WsHEMP1N5X
— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) July 14, 2025
