Russia remained China’s top crude oil supplier in September, at a time when the United States is stepping up pressure on major economies to curb their reliance on energy from the Eurasian country.
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Imports from Russia rose 4.3 per cent in volume from August to 8.29 million tonnes in September, accounting for 17.5 per cent of China’s total crude imports, customs data showed – a sign of Beijing’s willingness to maintain trade links with Moscow despite geopolitical frictions.
Chinese purchases of US crude oil have been suspended since June, according to customs, though American supplies previously made up only a small share of the country’s total imports.
“The increased Russian oil purchases may be China’s act of defiance ahead of further talks with the US,” said Xu Tianchen, senior economist with the Economist Intelligence Unit.
“I can’t see why China would give up Russian oil unless, for example, Trump is willing to remove all its tariffs on China and lift sanctions on Chinese companies.”
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Despite the monthly uptick, Chinese imports of Russian crude fell 4.3 per cent by volume on a year-on-year basis.