'China's 2022 trade with Russia hit record $190bn'

Shipments of Chinese goods to Russia have grown for six months in a row

BEIJING (Reuters) - China s trade with Russia hit a record 1.28 trillion yuan ($190 billion) last year, the government said on Friday, even as Russia s imports from the European Union fell on sanctions related to Moscow s invasion of Ukraine.

China s 2022 exports to and imports from Russia accounted for 3% of China s total trade, Lyu Daliang, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs, told a news briefing.

Shipments of Chinese goods to Russia have grown for six months in a row.

Russia more than doubled its rail exports of liquefied petroleum gas to China in 2022 as part of the Kremlin s drive to diversify its energy export sales, a Reuters analysis based on data from industry sources showed on Thursday.

China s imports of Russian natural gas through the Power of Siberia pipeline are set to have risen by at least 50% in 2022, according to Russia s top producer, Gazprom. China s Russian crude oil imports expanded 10% on year in the first 11 months at nearly 80 million tonnes.

China s trade with Russia slowed sharply in dollar terms in December, with exports up 8.3% from the same month last year, down from November s 17.9% rise, according to Reuters calculations based on Friday s Chinese customs data.

Imports from Russia rose 8.3%, slowing from a 28.5% gain in November, as a surge in COVID-19 infections following China s abrupt end to severe restrictions weighed on domestic demand.

But with the dismantling of Beijing s zero-COVID policy, however, Russia and China are ready to resume mutual travel as soon as possible and deepen their strategic cooperation, Zhang Hanhui, China s ambassador to Russia, said this week.