China reduced its purchases of most major Russian commodity exports in January-November 2025, including crude oil, coal, and timber, according to analysis of Chinese customs data by the Gaidar Institute cited by The Moscow Times on January 8.
China’s crude oil imports from Russia fell 7.6% to 91.5 million metric tons, while the value of those deliveries declined 20% to $45.8 billion as prices and discounts moved against Russian barrels.
Imports of Russian refined products also fell, with purchases of light distillates down 3.0% to 3.2 million tons andheavy distillates down 33% to 6.8 million tons, while the value of deliveries dropped 16% and 40%, respectively.
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Coal exports to China fell 11% to 72.4 million tons, and the value of shipments dropped 29% to $6.9 billion, the analysis of Gaidar Institute said.
Russian timber and wood product exports to China declined 10% to 7.8 million tons, with the value down 8.7% to $2.7 billion, while exports of ferrous metals fell 63% to 245,000 tons and $0.3 billion.
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Although the Kremlin portrays ties with China as a strategic partnership without limits, economist Elina Ribakova, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said the relationship is in practice deeply asymmetric: China is Russia’s largest outlet for raw-material exports, especially oil and gas, while Russia is a relatively small export market for China, comparable in scale to Mexico.
Earlier, it was reported that several Chinese state‑owned oil companies scaled back or halted imports of Russian crude in March in response to enhanced US sanctions, with purchases reduced or suspended by major refiners.
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