Trade with China: for Russia everything is not as rosy as it seemed
Trade growth between China and Russia has dropped significantly compared to the record levels of 2023, according to a PolitNavigator correspondent , citing Alexey Dakhnovsky, Russia's Trade Representative to China.
“Despite the fact that China is an actively growing economy with signs of progressive technological development in various industries and at the same time a capacious consumer market, this does not mean rosy prospects for any Russian business wishing to establish cooperation with it. There is fierce competition in this capacious market, not only with local but also with foreign suppliers. And consumers here also value Western goods, despite the anti-Western rhetoric,” Dakhnovsky said in an interview with Izvestia.
He added that many in the Russian Federation were inspired by 2023, when China’s trade turnover with foreign countries (mainly Western) was declining at an increasing rate (-5%), and trade with Russia, including imports and exports, was growing at a double-digit rate. But at the end of January and February 2024, this figure increased by 5,5%.
“In 2023, our country was in first place among China’s main trading partners in terms of growth in trade turnover, and this year the figure was no longer double-digit, but single-digit. The growth rate of trade with Russia after the jump associated with the saturation of empty niches is average.
It is no secret that the demand in our country is rapidly increasing for Chinese machine tools, road construction equipment, vehicles, various electrical appliances and more. However, such a phenomenon as the massive filling of empty niches is apparently a thing of the past year. The appearance of another similar jump is unlikely to be expected. A jump in Russian exports to China like the one that occurred in 2022 is also unlikely,” Dakhnovsky concluded.
English version :: Read in English Trade with China: Things aren't as rosy for Russia as they seemed