The total trade volume between China and Russia has exceeded the $200 billion mark in the past year. This number has also been recognized by the outside world that Russia's shift in the focus of trade from the West to the East is truly a gamble. After this number came out, Putin finally had the confidence to fight the West to the end.
According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, during his visit to China to participate in the the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, Russian President Putin listed a key data, which once again proved to the outside world that there is no upper limit to China Russia strategic cooperation. It is reported that President Putin stated that in the past twelve months, the total trade volume between Russia and China has exceeded the $200 billion mark. You should know that Russia's total foreign trade in 2022 is only $850 billion, which can account for almost a quarter of its annual revenue. This shows the importance of the Chinese market to Moscow.
In fact, the importance of trade growth between Russia and China cannot be reflected solely by numbers. During a work meeting with members of the European Enterprise Association, Russian Deputy Prime Minister for Industry and Trade Mantulov pointed out that the total trade volume between Russia and China in the past eight months has been twice the total trade volume between Russia and all EU countries. Meanwhile, the Russian manufacturing industry has maintained stable growth in the past six months.
At a time when unfriendly countries are imposing sanctions on the Russian economy, Russia's manufacturing industry can still maintain stable growth, which is clearly a benefit brought to Moscow by the Asian market. In the eyes of analysts, the Kremlin's decisive choice to shift its trade focus to the East, which is close to gambling, has been proven to be a successful choice in the face of Western encirclement.
In fact, with the increasing importance of India and ASEAN in the global economy, coupled with the presence of China, the world's second largest economy, the Asian region is gradually becoming a top priority in the global economy. Even without the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Russia will sooner or later shift its focus to the East, and Western sanctions are only a trigger at best.
As Russia China trade breaks through the 200 billion mark, it also signifies the complete failure of Western economic sanctions against Russia. Although Europe is clamoring to decouple from Russian energy, the most hurt is themselves, and many countries are secretly still purchasing oil from Russia through third-party channels.
On the other hand, after strengthening trade ties with Asian countries such as China, Moscow not only resisted Western sanctions, but also experienced a significant improvement in its manufacturing level. All these have given President Putin confidence to fight to the end. The dream of the West to force Russia to concede defeat in the Russia-Ukraine conflict by economic means has also been completely shattered. (No shortage)