Last month, China imported more than 16% more crude oil from Russia than in the same month last year, its eighth consecutive month of growth.
On the other hand, the G7 = seven major countries have applied new sanctions to set a ceiling price on Russian crude oil from this month, and the trend of imports of Russian crude oil by China will be the focus.
China's customs officials said last month's imports of crude oil from Russia reached 7.81 million tonnes, up 16.6% from the same month last year and rising for the eighth straight month.
Last month's imports of LNG (liquefied natural gas) from Russia were also 850,000 tons, roughly double the same month last year, also increasing for the eighth consecutive month.
China's imports from Russia increased by 47.5% from January to last month compared to the same period last year, due to factors such as increases in crude oil and natural gas. It has been pointed out that strong trade continues and is supporting the Russian economy.
Under these circumstances, the G7 and Australia have applied new sanctions to set the price limit for international transactions at $60 per barrel for crude oil transported by sea from Russia from the 5th of this month. The focus will be on trends in imports of crude oil produced.