“No one expected this level of trade”: Russia’s war against Ukraine is bringing huge profits to China – NYT
After global sanctions were imposed on Russia, China began to meet the needs of Russia for critical imports, and in fact, to profit from the invasion of Ukraine.
This was reported by The New York Times.
“China is cashing in on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has led Russia to switch from the West to China for everything from cars to computer chips. China’s exports to the neighboring country have grown so much that this summer Chinese builders built warehouses and 20-story office towers on the border,” the article says.
It is known that China’s trade with Russia this year exceeded $200 billion in the first 11 months of this year.
“Even these countries did not expect this level,” the NYT reports.
Truck and car manufacturers earned the most.
China has also met Russia’s critical need for imports, after European and American companies began avoiding Russia since February 2022.
“China continues its role as a substitute supplier of goods, despite the risk of its close economic ties with many European countries,” the publication emphasizes.
China’s exports to Russia grew by 69 percent in the first 11 months of this year, compared to the same period in 2021, before the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia, in turn, was selling oil and natural gas to China at great discounts. Russian chocolates, sausages, and other consumer goods are abundant in Chinese supermarkets.
Russia’s war in Ukraine also received an image boost from China.
“State media constantly spread Russian propaganda in China and around the world. Russia is so popular in China that social media influencers flock to Harbin, the capital of China’s northernmost province in eastern Heilongjiang, to pose in Russian clothes in front of the former Russian cathedral,” the publication says.
Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, and Russian President Vladimir Putin have made numerous public demonstrations of the countries’ close ties. Xi Jinping visited Harbin in early September and declared Heilongjiang the “gateway to the north” of China.
“Maintaining and developing China-Russia relations well is a strategic choice made by both sides based on the fundamental interests of the two peoples,” Xi Jinping said during a meeting in Beijing with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
