China-Russia Trade Up By More Than A Quarter

China's overall trade with Russia rose to 243 billion yuan (US$38.18 billion) between January and March, up nearly 28 percent from a year earlier, a Chinese customs spokesman said on Wednesday.

The country's total trade with Ukraine, meanwhile, climbed to 29.6 billion yuan in the first quarter, up 10.6 percent.

For March alone, China’s shipments to and from Russia grew 12.76 percent from a year earlier, slowing from a 25.7 percent expansion in February but still outpacing growth in China’s total imports and exports of 7.75 percent for March.

China's trade with both Russia and Ukraine has maintained an uptrend, customs spokesman Li Kuiwen said at a press conference, adding that economic and trade cooperation with other countries, including Russia and Ukraine, will remain normal.

Shipments between China and Russia totalled 190.1 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2021, while its trade with Ukraine stood at 26.8 billion yuan, according to previous customs data.

Beijing has repeatedly criticised what it says are illegal Western sanctions to punish Russia for its actions in Ukraine. Several weeks before the start of Moscow’s military campaign, China and Russia declared a "no-limits" strategic partnership.

Last year, total trade between China and Russia jumped 35.8 percent to a record 936.9 billion yuan. Russia is a major source of oil, gas, coal and agricultural commodities for China. (Reuters)

Last updated: 2022-04-13 HKT 16:21