Russia floods China with its oil

The increase is so significant that Russia became the Asian giant’s largest supplier last month, ahead of Saudi Arabia.

The West has adopted unprecedented sanctions against Russia since the end of February in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. In particular, they have reduced their imports of Russian hydrocarbons.

Faced with the boycott of Russian products abroad and the multitude of departures of foreign firms from Russia, Moscow can only count on Chinese power to escape total economic isolation.

On several occasions, the United States and the European Union (EU) have warned Beijing against any support for the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin that would soften the impact of the sanctions.

In May, imports of Russian oil by China, however, increased by 55% year on year, according to figures released Monday by Chinese Customs.

Last month, the Asian giant bought some 8.42 million tonnes of oil from Russia. This is a quantity well above the deliveries from Russia received a year earlier (5.44 million tonnes).

Notably, Russian oil imports last month exceeded those from Saudi Arabia, usually China’s top supplier (7.82 million).

As for purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG), they increased last month by 54% over one year to 397,000 tonnes, according to Customs.

Beijing’s approach contrasts with the attitude of Westerners, who have been trying to reduce their dependence on Russian hydrocarbons since the war in Ukraine.

Marked drop in exports to the West

According to a recent report by the International Energy Agency (IEA) published last week, Russian oil exports to the West have fallen sharply since the start of the war in Ukraine.

This is particularly the case to the EU (3.9 million barrels per day in total in February, against 3.4 in May) and to the destination US-UK (0.9 million, versus 0.1 million).

This fall continued last month, according to theOUCHbut was offset by an increase in shipments to China and also to India – another Asian country that did not condemn the Russian invasion with a jump from 0.1 in February to 0.9 million barrels per day in May.

Beijing is Moscow’s main economic partner.

All products combined, total Chinese imports from Russia increased in May by 80% year on year, to reach some 10.3 billion dollars, according to Customs.

On Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed his country’s closeness to Russia during a telephone conversation with his counterpart Vladimir Putin. The two leaders notably agreed to expand cooperation in the energy field, according to a Kremlin report.

China, which shares more than 4,000 kilometers of border with Russia, has seen its energy needs jump in recent decades in line with its economic growth.

Last year, the Russian neighbor notably supplied the Asian giant with 16% of its oil, according to the ANZ bank.

The Chinese president has never hidden his closeness to Vladimir Putin, described as old friend. Since President Xi came to power in 2012, the two men have met more than 30 times. The last meeting dates back to February in Beijing, three weeks before the start of the war in Ukraine.

The two men then proclaimed friendship without limits between China and Russia, and signed a multitude of agreements, particularly in the field of gas.

China refuses since the intervention of February 24 to use the word invasion to describe the military operation launched by Moscow, and lays the blame on the United States and theNATO.

Close to the Kremlin, with which it wants to form a common front against the United States, the Chinese authorities have refrained from condemning the Russian invasion.