11.11.2025
Statistics from the General Administration of Customs of the PRC for the first 9 months of 2025 showed that the total trade turnover between the PRC and the Russian Federation decreased by 9.4%. Russian exports to the PRC fell by 7.3% (to $90.05 billion), and Chinese exports to the Russian Federation by 11.3% (to $73.57 billion).
So, in the trade balance of the PRC, a negative balance of trade with the Russian Federation was formed, amounting to minus 16.48 billion dollars. Most likely, by the end of the year, this minus will exceed 20 billion dollars. Although this amount is insignificant for the PRC, it allows the Kremlin to maintain currency liquidity within the country, namely in yuan, and also to maintain the accumulation of reserves in the Chinese currency.
However, the Chinese are not very happy with this trend, since the reduction in Chinese exports to the Russian Federation occurred precisely in the mechanical engineering segment, that is, in the sector with the highest added value. Chinese brands are fleeing the Russian Federation not so much because of sanctions, but because of the decline in sales volumes. The Russian market is simply becoming uninteresting to them.
One of the fundamental reasons for this trend is the excessively high lending rates in the Russian Federation and the lack of credit support from Chinese importers. Although Putin’s supporters boast that almost 100% of trade settlements between the PRC and the Russian Federation are made in yuan, Chinese banks are in no hurry to provide credit support in rubles to Russian buyers of Chinese imports.
Last week, there were a series of meetings between Chinese and Russian government officials. In public statements, the parties tried not to talk about the cooling of economic relations and the worsening problem of China’s negative trade balance with Russia. However, simple smiles and handshakes will not stop the growth of the problem.
“Although Putin’s supporters boast that almost 100% of trade settlements between the PRC and the Russian Federation are made in yuan…”
That’s so precious. The ruskies have become serfs for their chink masters, and they even boast about it.