Русский
Much of Russia’s non-energy China trade has thus far been concentrated on northern China due to the proximity of border crossings and relative ease of access. However, moves are being taken to spread the reach of Russian imports into the Chinese domestic market. To that end, Russia increased supplies of agricultural products to China through Guangdong province by 4% in 2025 to US$400 million, the Russian Agroexport Federal Center has stated. This region is the Chinese mainland immediately north of Hong Kong.
This is significant as the Guangdong region is part of China’s ‘Greater Bay Area’ (GBA), which includes nine major Guangdong provincial cities as well as the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. The entire GBA has a population in excess of 87 million consumers and, as such, has enormous potential for Russian exports.
According to Agroexport, last year the majority of Russian export revenues to the GBA came from exports of chicken feet valued at US$133 million. The dish is a Southern Chinese specialty. Pork by-products were exported at values of US$47 million, frozen pork for US$36 million, chicken wings for US$30 million, and beef for US$25 million. Other products were also exported, in particular vegetable oil, turkey meat, and pollock. In physical terms, supplies amounted to 222,000 tonnes.
The GBA is among the most dynamically developing territories in China. It is an important strategic player in China’s national import and distribution of agricultural and food products and is among the most affluent regions of the country. Residents of the GBA, especially in urban centers, provide high demand for quality and premium food products. This creates broad opportunities for the supply of various goods, including wine, nuts, dairy products, meat, and other fresh products.
In addition, special measures have been introduced in the region to facilitate trade between mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau to accelerate the formation of integrated supply chains and food safety standards, which further increases the region’s attractiveness as a center for trade in agricultural products.
40 leading Russian companies are currently visiting the GBA during a business mission, which also includes presenting their products at various events. A business program is also planned and includes round tables dedicated to the development of agricultural product exports and strategies for working in the HoReCa and retail segments, as well as on Chinese marketplaces.
In total, China’s General Administration of Customs has indicated that Russian agricultural products and food worth around US$8 billion were exported into China in 2025, a substantial increase upon the US$6.4 billion exported in 2024.
