How Putin's war brought China and Russia closer together

Since Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine back in February 2022, tensions have been created globally with countries ramping up their sanctions on Russia. Since the war began from an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War that started back in 2014 it became clear that the Russian president still had a powerful friend, Xi Jinping.

The Chinese leader, set a “no limits” partnership with Russia weeks before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine set a policy of decrying sanctions and continuing to strengthen ties with Putin. On Thursday, Putin visited China to meet with Xi Jinping for the second time since the invasion for a two-day state visit making it the fourth in-person meeting between the pair since the war.

The war has guided the two powerful leaders and their economies close together with trade hitting record levels last year after Russia upped its imports of key commodities such as iron and metal from China. Chinese buyers also lapped up discounted Russian fuel and China has repeatedly defended its trade with Russia as part of normal bilateral relations.

The United States has said Chinese exports of products like machine tools and microelectronics are enabling Russia to increase the defense industrial base powering its war in Ukraine. The EU, the US and many of its allies and others across the world have imposed a range of sanctions targeting Russian entities and the flow of goods to and from the warring country.

Russia's economy expanded by 3.6% in 2023 despite Western sanctions imposed following Putin's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Both China and Russia last year racked up $240 billion in bilateral trade, hitting a target to exceed $200 billion in two-way trade by 2024 ahead of schedule lauded by both Putin and Xi. The sanctions have caused a sweeping shift in who Russia trades with.

The expansion of the economy has allowed China to be Russia's top trade partner with Putin declaring last year to Russian state media that the country had surpassed the EU to take that spot. As the European Union cut down purchases of Russian fuel and limited the exports ranging from high-tech goods to transportation equipment, China strengthened its own exports of industrial and commercial goods to the country, such as vehicles, machinery and home appliances, data and official statements show.

Russia has also become China's main oil supplier meaning they've over taken Saudi Arabia, according to official Chinese trade data. India is also among buyers upping imports in the wake of the war so China is not alone in taking advantage of Russia’s need to find new markets for its fuel. EU exports to Russia have decreased roughly 60% since the start of the war.

Last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Beijing to warn Chinese leaders that the US and other countries would act if Beijing didn’t move to stem this flow. French President Emmanuel Macron and his European Commission counterpart also pressed Xi on such supplies during the leader’s state visit to France last week. Beijing has previously criticized the US as making “groundless accusations” over “normal trade and economic exchanges” between China and Russia.

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