Russia-China Bilateral Cross-Border Rail Freight Up 9% YoY in January 2025

Rail cargo transportation in both directions between Russia and China increased by 9.1% compared to January 2024, to 3.5 million tonnes, Russian Railways has stated.

3.3 million tonnes were Russian exports, an increase of 8.9%. 1.7 million tonnes of cargo were exported to China through the Zabaikalsk – Manchuria railway border crossing, between Zabaykalsky Krai and China’s Inner Mongolia, while in second place was the Nizhneleninskoye – Tongjiang railway border crossing, between Russia’s Jewish Autonomous Region and Inner Mongolia, which carried 492,900 tonnes of cargo.

Other significant crossings used were through the Grodno – Suifenhe border crossing, with 722,500 tonnes of cargo crossing, and the Kamyshovaya – Hunchun crossing, with 339,400 tonnes of cargo, both of which connect Primorsky Krai and China’s Heilongjiang Province.

All these routes reach onto China’s national railway network.

Of the products rail freighted to China, this included 1.5 million tonnes of coal, being 46.3% of the total volume of goods transported. In addition, Russian rail exports to China in January included 721,000 tonnes of iron and manganese ore (+25%), 170,200 thousand tonnes of fertilizers (+15%), 71,900 tonnes of non-ferrous metals (up 1.6 times), and 68,200 tonnes of oil and oil cargo (up 1.7 times).