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How dependent is China on Russia?

In 2024, Russia sold $129.6 billion to China, 6% of its imports, ranking 5th among its suppliers. Its share was 3.4% in 2019 and 2.6% in 1995. In 13 products it sells more than 50% of what China buys of them (in 4, more than 75%); what China buys from Russia in those products (dominated value) adds up to $2.6 billion, 0.12% of its imports.

Summary

Share of its imports
6%
Value imported
$129.6billion
Rank among its suppliers
5th
Products where it sells over 50%
13
Products where it sells over 75%
4
Dominated value
$2.6billion
Share of total imports
0.1%

Trend

Trend in shares

Russia went from 2.6% to 6% of what China buys

Share (%)

  • Russia 6%

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
YearValue (USD millions)ShareRank
19953,4812.6%8
19965,0293.6%7
19973,7512.7%8
19983,3082.5%9
19993,7552.5%8
20004,8562.4%8
20016,3562.8%7
20026,4352.4%9
20038,4562.3%9
20049,6772%11
200512,4632.2%11
200614,7852.2%13
200716,1501.9%14
200821,1722.2%14
200917,4792%12
201021,7151.9%14
201135,5722.4%12
201238,8802.7%10
201337,9062.4%11
201439,8562.5%11
201531,4052.4%11
201632,3292.5%9
201741,8992.6%10
201855,6453.2%8
201958,5773.4%9
202051,6693%10
202172,9323.3%10
2022114,1475%6
2023129,0035.9%5
2024129,5806%5

Products where Russia sells more than half

ProductSupplierShareSecondValue
Rapeseed and mustard oilRussia59.8%United Arab Emirates · 17.5%$1.1 billion
Sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oilRussia70.5%Kazakhstan · 15.2%$654 million
FlaxseedRussia71.4%Kazakhstan · 21.3%$249 million
NewsprintRussia61.2%Canada · 11.2%$226 million
PlywoodRussia67%Indonesia · 9.2%$174 million
Quinoa, millet and other cerealsRussia81.8%over 75%Bolivia · 9.2%$76 million
AsbestosRussia97.9%over 75%Kazakhstan · 2%$46 million
Magnesium hydroxide and peroxide; strontium and barium oxidesRussia75.8%over 75%Japan · 7.7%$27 million
Chromium oxidesRussia65.4%South Africa · 14.5%$21 million
Cereal straw and husksRussia84.3%over 75%Japan · 4.8%$7 million
Cereal groats and pelletsRussia64.5%Australia · 13%$5 million
Hoopwood, poles and wooden stakesRussia58.5%Guyana · 26.5%$4 million
Plans and drawings for architecture and engineeringRussia59.7%France · 22.2%$3 million

A product has a dominant supplier when a single country sells more than 50% of what is bought of it; we flag it separately above 75%.

Are there other suppliers in the world?

  • Russia sells 9.8% of what the world exports of rapeseed and mustard oil; next come Canada (36.8%), Germany (10.9%) and France (5.7%). The rest of the world exported 9.8 times what China buys from Russia.
  • Russia sells 24.1% of what the world exports of sunflower, safflower and cottonseed oil; next come Ukraine (29.5%), Turkey (7%) and Netherlands (5.9%). The rest of the world exported 21.3 times what China buys from Russia.
  • Russia sells 38.9% of what the world exports of flaxseed; next come Kazakhstan (20.1%), Canada (12.9%) and Belgium (4.7%). The rest of the world exported 3 times what China buys from Russia.
  • Russia sells 6.6% of what the world exports of newsprint; next come Canada (28.6%), Sweden (12.8%) and Germany (9.3%). The rest of the world exported 26.4 times what China buys from Russia.
  • Russia sells 4.5% of what the world exports of plywood; next come Indonesia (10.9%), Vietnam (7.7%) and Brazil (5.1%). The rest of the world exported 63.7 times what China buys from Russia.
  • Russia sells 8.8% of what the world exports of quinoa, millet and other cereals; next come Peru (11.7%), Poland (11.5%) and Canada (9.5%). The rest of the world exported 13.9 times what China buys from Russia.
  • Russia sells 53.2% of what the world exports of asbestos; next come Brazil (22.6%), Kazakhstan (20.4%) and Germany (0.29%). The rest of the world exported 4.1 times what China buys from Russia.
  • Russia sells 17.5% of what the world exports of magnesium hydroxide and peroxide; strontium and barium oxides; next come Netherlands (12.4%), Austria (8.3%) and Israel (7%). The rest of the world exported 7.3 times what China buys from Russia.
  • Russia sells 5.8% of what the world exports of chromium oxides; next come Kazakhstan (47.8%), Germany (8.2%) and United States (7.4%). The rest of the world exported 23.1 times what China buys from Russia.
  • Russia sells 1.7% of what the world exports of cereal straw and husks; next come France (22.1%), Spain (13.3%) and Pakistan (11.6%). The rest of the world exported 65.8 times what China buys from Russia.

Exports from the rest of the world already have buyers; the figure shows scale, not availability.

Seen from Russia

China is Russia’s 1st-largest customer, with 34.4% of its exports.

Sources and method

Sources and licenses

Methodology

The data come from CEPII BACI (Etalab 2.0 licence), which reconciles what the exporting and the importing country report, in current USD, FOB. Data up to 2024.

Dependence is the share of a country’s imports (or exports) that each partner accounts for. It does not measure whether a product has a substitute or how much it would cost to change supplier.

The concentration index (HHI) adds up the square of each partner’s share, in percent: it runs from 0 to 10,000. Its equivalent is 10,000 ÷ HHI, the number of partners of the same size that would give that value.

Products are HS4 headings of the 1992 nomenclature (some combine different goods), with a floor of $1 million per product and country.

The EU is the 27 current members in every year; the United Kingdom is outside the EU throughout the series.

Re-exports: countries that act as redistribution hubs carry their notice and the figures are not corrected.