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STORY: How is China benefitting from sanctions on Russia?

The war in Ukraine triggered sanctions on Russia’s energy imports and exports by the EU

distorting the global LNG market

and placing Russia under pressure to sell the energy surplus.

Enter China

China purchased Russian oil and coal on a cheap, not only saving billions of dollars

but also making returns trading excess supplies.

President Xi says China wants a closer partnership with Russia

that maintains international energy security and supply chains.

How much has China gained so far?

Crude Oil

China's crude imports from Russia jumped 8% in 2022

even as the country's overall imports slipped due to a slowdown in its economy

According to Reuters' calculations

Chinese refiners saved about $5.5 billion from April 2022 to January this year.

Coal

China has also increased coal imports from Russia,

buying discounted coal while Europe shunned Russian cargoes.

In 2022, Russian coal arrivals surged 20% from a year earlier.

Liquefied Natural Gas

China's LNG imports from Russia soared over 40%.

Simultaneously, its exports rose

as China re-exported LNG to top importers like South Korea, Japan and France.

That came even as overall LNG imports by China fell by almost 20%

as strict lockdown measures in 2022 slowed economic activity and curbed demand.