China 2024 Oil & LNG Imports From Russia Up 1.3% and 3.3%

The latest data from the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China states that over 2024, for the full year, China increased the volume of imported Russian oil by 1.3%. The volume reached 108.47 million tonnes, while the cost of purchasing the oil also increased by 2.8% to reach US$62.42 billion.

Also over the past year, the volume of supplies of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China increased by 3.3%, to 8.3 million tonnes, however prices decreased 3.5% to reach a total of US$4.99 billion.

Chinese customs also reported that for the ten-month period from January to October 2024, China-Russia bilateral increased by 2.8% compared to the same period in 2023. Russian exports to China reached US$108.07 billion, while imports from China increased by 4.7%, amounting to U$94.14 billion. These figures suggest a total 2024 bilateral trade volume of about US$243.4 billion.

Western sanctions may have slowed the growth pace of Russia-China trade, but these haven’t succeeded in preventing it. China’s 2024 GDP growth reached 5%, with Russian supplies of energy to feed that somewhat below the national growth rate. However, a predicted 2025 GDP growth rate of about the same, coupled with connectivity improvements and planned import tariff reductions on some of the products traded via the China-EAEU agreement should see Russia’s own exports to China maintain at least increases at similar rates to 2024, and possibly slightly more.