After the introduction of economic sanctions, Russia had to revise the priorities of foreign economic activity. China, as the country with the largest economy, is the largest exporter in the world. In addition, the geographical neighbor has strengthened its position as a strategic trading partner of Russia. The positive dynamics of trade between Russia and China is gradually increasing. According to the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC, in less than 40 years, trade between Russia and China has grown more than 130 times, from $ 500 million in 1980 to $ 69.5 billion in 2016. China for Russia is the main trading partner for both imports and exports. At the same time, Russia ranks tenth in export and ninth in imports in the world.
A bit of history
The economies of Russia and China could perfectly complement each other at a fundamentally different level than now. After all, the Russian market buys more finished products with a high rate of added value, and sells mostly slightly processed raw materials. Such shifts in the trade turnover between Russia and China have occurred over the past twenty years as a result of the rapid growth of Chinese industry and not very successful indicators of Russian production.
In 1998, machinery and equipment in Russian exports accounted for 25%, now this item is about 2.2%. The trade statistics of Russia and China (from 1999 to 2008) show constant positive dynamics. Moreover, until 2006, the export of Russian goods was more than the import of Chinese. However, imports of Chinese goods grew faster, and in 2007 for the first time Russia had a negative trade balance in mutual trade. China is becoming an increasingly important trading partner of Russia, in 2007 for the first time becoming the third, and in 2010 the first in terms of turnover. At the same time, the structure of Russia's exports is gradually shifting towards raw materials. By 2011, the existing proportions in the trade and economic relations between Russia and China were formed. The volume and structure of trade between countries are mainly determined, on the one hand, by the success of economic reforms in China, and on the other, by the dynamics of commodity prices.
Plans and reality
Russia several times set as its goal to significantly increase trade between countries. Russian President Putin V.V. in 2014, when trade between Russia and China reached a maximum of $ 95.3 billion, said that by the next year it is planned to break the bar of $ 100 billion, and by 2020 $ 200 billion. So far, substantial and constant growth has not been achieved.
According to the PRC Main Customs Directorate, in 2017, trade between Russia and China increased by 20.8%, compared with the previous one. In total, the parties gained 84 billion dollars. Russia bought $ 42.9 billion of Chinese goods, an increase of 14.8% over last year, and sold $ 27.7 billion, an increase of 27.7%. At the end of 2016, mutual trade grew by only 2.2% and amounted to $ 69.5 billion, while purchases in China increased by 7.3% ($ 37.2 billion), and sales of Russian goods fell by 3.1.% ($ 32.2 billion). Mutual trade is gradually recovering after a catastrophic fall in 2015, when exports to Russia fell by 34.4% and imports by 19.1%. What was caused by a significant devaluation of the ruble, including in relation to the Chinese yuan. The Ministry of Economic Development considers the increase in trade between Russia and China to be an important condition for ensuring positive dynamics of the country's economic growth, no one has canceled the target of 200 billion by 2020.
Russian exports
Mineral resources (including hydrocarbons) dominate Russian exports to China. The main items of Russian exports are oil and oil products, wood, equipment for nuclear energy and weapons, fish, and pharmaceutical products. In 2017, Russia supplied hydrocarbons for $ 25.3 billion, timber and wood pulp for about $ 4 billion, weapons and equipment for nuclear power plants for about $ 1.5 billion for each position. The next significant article of Russian exports is the supply of fish and seafood: a little more than 1 billion in 2017. Most supplies of marine products are carried out from the Primorsky Territory to the border regions of China, where there is practically no processing of local fish.
Russian imports
Russia imports from China machinery and equipment, clothes, shoes and other consumer goods, chemical products. The largest deliveries in 2017 fell to the following positions: equipment - about $ 13.6 billion and electric cars - $ 11.8 billion, about 6 billion accounted for the purchase of consumer goods (clothing, shoes, toys, umbrellas, etc.). The entire Far East and Siberia are largely supplied by consumer and food products from China. Imports of various goods in 2017 amounted to approximately $ 1 billion.
Turnover structure
The structure of trade between Russia and China has changed significantly from 1998 to 2011. Deliveries of machinery and equipment from Russia decreased by 18 times. In Chinese exports, on the contrary, there was an increase in this article to 40% of all goods. The share of hydrocarbons in Russian exports reached 49%, and the total commodity group goods about 70%. Since 2016, there has been a decrease in the export of ore and metals, due to the unfavorable global situation and a decrease in metallurgical production in China. At the same time, the share of non-ferrous metals needed for high-tech production is increasing. About 20% of Chinese exports are consumer goods, 10% are chemical products.
Cross-border trade
Russia and China have the longest border - 4209.3 kilometers, which creates an excellent opportunity for the development of cross-border trade. In China, entire cities with Russian streets and Russian-speaking sellers grew along the border with Russia. Although Russia as a whole is not a large foreign trade partner of China, in the last 10 years it has accounted for 40% to 50% of all China’s trade of this type in cross-border trade. In some years, the growth rate of cross-border trade was higher than the growth rates of trade between Russia and China by more than 10%, and its share in some years amounted to 21%. A significant part of the turnover is agricultural products manufactured in Russia, but by Chinese companies. The structure of Chinese imports between the border regions is dominated by equipment, vegetables, clothes, shoes. And in the opposite direction are mainly commodities, including fish and wood.
