China–Russia Trade Declines for First Time Since 2020

China’s trade with Russia declined in 2025 from a record high in 2024, marking the first drop in bilateral trade in five years, according to Reuters, citing data from Chinese customs.

The previous decline was recorded in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Trade between the two countries had grown steadily for four consecutive years afterward.

Total trade between China and Russia reached 1.63 trillion yuan ($234 billion) in 2025. The downturn was driven by weaker demand for Chinese automobiles in Russia and lower prices for Russian crude oil exports to China.

Official data show that bilateral trade in yuan fell by 6.5% year on year. Chinese exports to Russia declined by 9.9%, while imports from Russia fell by 3.4%. In dollar terms, total trade amounted to $228.1 billion, down 6.9%.

In December, however, China’s exports to Russia rose by 2.2%, ending an eight-month streak of declines, while imports jumped by 17.1%.

According to Reuters, due to falling oil prices in the first 11 months of 2025, the value of Russian crude oil imports to China dropped by 19.6% year on year to 328.5 billion yuan.

Overall, China reported a record trade surplus of nearly $1.2 trillion in 2025. Reuters notes that this was driven by rapid export growth to markets outside the United States, which helped offset the impact of tariffs imposed by the administration of President Donald Trump.

• In 2025, China bought 22 batches LNG from two Russian plants under US and European Union sanctions.
• Novatek, Russia's largest LNG producer, through uS sanctions against the Arctic LNG-2 plant is forced to sell its products to China with 30-40% discounts.