The decline in Russian-Chinese trade, for the first time in three years of war, continues to accelerate, reports Reuters, citing Chinese customs data. By the end of August, China's purchases of goods from Russia plummeted by 17.8% year-on-year, and the supply of Chinese goods to the Russian market fell by 16.4% year-on-year—twice as much as in July, when the reduction was 8.6%.
In the first eight months of the year, China's exports to Russia decreased by 8.8%, and imports by 8.2%. The value of bilateral trade for January-August amounted to 1.03 trillion yuan (145 billion dollars).
The decline in turnover with Russia's main trading partner has caused concern in the Kremlin, sources previously told Reuters. "China is not behaving like an ally," complained one of the agency's interlocutors, close to the government. "Sometimes it lets us down and stops payments, sometimes it profits from us, and sometimes it just robs us. There's nothing allied about it."
During Putin's trip to China, an agreement was signed on the construction of the 'Power of Siberia 2' gas pipeline, but prices have not yet been agreed upon.
Last weekend, as ship tracking system data shows, a tanker with liquefied natural gas from the Russian 'Arctic LNG-2' project, which is under sanctions, docked at a Chinese port.