China continues to increase the supply of goods to Russia, which is cut off from Western imports by sanctions.
At the end of April, exports from China to Russia reached a record $9.6 billion, Bloomberg reports, citing data from Chinese customs.
Compared to the same month last year, the volume of shipments jumped by 153% and for the first time in 9 years was higher than imports from Russia.
The total trade turnover reached $19 billion and became the second largest in history, second only to the peak in March.
The largest item of Chinese exports (almost 20%) was "transportation equipment," a category that includes cars and spare parts. According to Avtostat, Chinese brands accounted for 44% of passenger car sales in April, which is more than Russian brands (35%), of which Lada accounted for 33%.
About 15% of Chinese exports are electronics, and another 24% are industrial equipment and spare parts.
Although the share of the Russian market for China is negligible and amounts to about 2%, Chinese exports to Russia have already taken up about a third of all goods supplied to the country.
Moscow understands that sanctions are making the Russian economy dependent on China, but Beijing's help is critical to winning the war, a source close to the Kremlin told the Financial Times in March.
"The logic of events dictates that we are completely becoming a resource colony of China," the source told the FT. – "Our servers will be from Huawei. China will receive gas through the Power of Siberia. By the end of 2023, the yuan will be our main currency in international trade."
Background. As a reminder, one of the largest Chinese car manufacturers, Great Wall, was included in the list of international sponsors of the war. Russia is Great Wall's largest market outside of China.