BEIJING, January 14. /TASS/. Trade turnover between Russia and China decreased by 6.9% year-on-year in 2025 reaching $228.105 billion in monetary terms, Alexey Dakhnovsky, Russia's Trade Representative to China, told TASS referring to Chinese customs statistics.
"The reasons for this decline are quite clear; I'll just name a few: unprecedented external pressure from the West, falling prices for goods that form the core of Russian exports to China, high borrowing costs in Russia, slowing growth in certain sectors of the Chinese economy, and the supply of the Russian market with Chinese products. Putting aside specific factors, I'll also mention the seemingly obvious but important factor of the rapid dynamics of the current general changes in global politics, economics, and other areas," the official said.
Dakhnovsky underscored that despite the decline Russia retained its place among China's top five trading partners.
According to him, relations between Russia and China cannot be viewed outside this context. The recent rapid growth in bilateral trade turnover between 2022 and 2024 was mainly due to Chinese products filling the niches that emerged in Russia after Western companies withdrew, he noted. This growth is a thing of the past, as objective environmental conditions have changed significantly, he added.
"Therefore, a certain volatility in trade is inevitable. <...> according to our observations, while overall indicators declined last year, the situation gradually improved over the course of specific months, and during each of the last four months, Russian exports to China have remained consistently positive," Dakhnovsky said.
The official also noted that despite a number of negative factors, Russia and China have managed to strengthen their trade and economic relations and develop new formats for cooperation.
"If we assess the outgoing year from the perspective of trade and economic cooperation between Russia and China, it is important to note that, despite the significant impact of a number of negative factors, the countries managed to maintain the stability of bilateral trade and economic relations, strengthen them, and develop new formats and models for cooperation," the official said.
"In fact, our countries have fully switched to using national currencies in mutual trade. Cooperation in industrial and technological areas has developed. The parties have consistently strengthened contacts in this area. A key factor in avoiding negative scenarios in many sectors has been the creativity, activity, mobility, and ingenuity of businesses, which has enabled an increase in the number of joint projects and the intensity of exchanges. I would especially like to commend the representatives of small and medium-sized companies, many of whom, despite the difficulties, have showed genuine entrepreneurial courage and initiative, opening up new niches and regions," the official said.