China’s profit from Russia-Ukraine war

Moscow, Russia:

According to US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, Chinese technology exports to Russia have plummeted significantly post the sanctions, imposed upon Moscow, reported The Hong Kong Post. Exports of telecom network equipment dropped by 98 per cent owing to Beijing’s wariness of violating the prohibitions on trade.

In the context of benefitting from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, China has taken advantage of Russia’s inability to sell its products to other countries. Beijing is taking advantage of Russia’s generous discounts as the trade with Russia has surged by 25.9 per cent to USD 51 billion in the months of January-April this year as compared to the previous year.

Further, China has engaged in talks with Russia to buy additional supplies of crude oil to add to its strategic petroleum reserves, reported The Hong Kong Post. It indicated that China won’t miss the opportunity to grab the discount on oil supplies from Russia.

In addition, there have been shipments of metallurgical coal from Russia to China which have ascended to almost 49 per cent since April this year. China imported about 1.37 million tonnes of Russian coking coal the previous month.

However, as European countries have raised objections regarding the import of Chinese products through Russian territory, China has devised a new method by making use of rail, road, and seaports reported, The Hong Kong Post. The new route connecting Xi’an in China with Germany passes through Kazakhstan, Caspian Sea, Black Sea to name a few before entering Romania and Bulgaria.

The new route will help China in the continued supply of its products to the markets of Europe amidst the prevalent Russia-Ukraine war. This will assist China to deepen its relations with the Middle East countries even more. In conclusion, Beijing will benefit from a rising convergence of ideas with key Middle Eastern states, and can also create of a power vacuum in the region.

However, challenges still persist in China as the Chinese economy faces soaring global commodity prices and disrupted supply chains owing to the Russia-Ukraine war. Further, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s autocratic style of government has also called for frustration in China.