To compensate for Western markets .. Russian oil flows to China
China increased its imports of Russian oil significantly in May, official figures showed on Monday, helping Moscow to compensate for Western markets that were deprived of it due to sanctions imposed on it against the backdrop of its war in Ukraine.
This amount exceeds oil imports from Saudi Arabia (7.82 million tons), traditionally China's first oil supplier.
Western countries imposed unprecedented sanctions on Moscow in response to its invasion of Ukraine, and especially reduced its imports of Russian oil and gas.
Faced with a boycott of Russian products abroad and many foreign companies leaving Russia, Moscow can only rely on Chinese power to avoid complete economic isolation.
The United States and the European Union have repeatedly warned Beijing that any support for the regime of Russian President Vladimir Putin would mitigate the impact of sanctions on Moscow.
In May, China's imports of Russian oil rose 55 percent year on year, according to figures released Monday by Chinese customs.
Last month, the Asian giant bought from Russia about 8.42 million tons of oil, according to Chinese customs.
This amount is much higher than the Russian shipments received by China a year ago (5.44 million tons).
As for purchases of liquefied natural gas, they rose last month by 54% on an annual basis, to reach 397 thousand tons, according to the customs.
Beijing's approach contrasts with that of Western powers that have been trying to reduce their dependence on Russian oil products since the war in Ukraine.
According to a recent report by the International Energy Agency published last week, Russian oil exports to the West have declined significantly since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, especially towards the European Union (3.9 million barrels per day in February compared to 3.4 million in May) and towards the United States and Britain. (0.9 million barrels per day in February versus 0.1 million in May).
The decline continued last month, according to the International Energy Agency, but was "compensated by increased shipments to China" as well as to India, another Asian country that did not condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with a rise from 0.1 million barrels per day in February to 0.9 million barrels daily in may.
Beijing is Moscow's main economic partner.
In total, China's total imports from Russia in May increased 80 percent year on year to about 10.3 billion dollars, according to the customs.
On Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated the rapprochement between his country and Russia, in telephone consultations with his counterpart Vladimir Putin.
During that phone call, the Chinese and Russian presidents agreed to expand energy cooperation, according to a Kremlin statement.
China, which shares a 4,000 km border with Russia, has seen its energy needs rise in recent decades due to its economic growth.
Last year, Russia supplied the Asian giant with 16% of its oil, according to ANZ Bank.
The Chinese president has never hidden his closeness to Vladimir Putin, whom he describes as an "old friend".
Since coming to power in China in 2012, Xi has met his Russian counterpart more than thirty times.
The last meeting between the two presidents dates back to February, and it was their first since the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic in late 2019.
Three weeks before the start of the conflict in Ukraine, Chinese President Putin was received in Beijing on the sidelines of the opening of the 2022 Winter Olympics.
On that occasion, they declared "friendship without borders" between their two countries and signed a number of agreements, especially in the field of gas.
Since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine in February, China has refused to use the term "invasion" to describe it, and has pointed the finger in the conflict at the United States and NATO.
The Chinese authorities have refrained from condemning the Russian operation.
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