China continues to expand its dependence on Russian energy supplies by buying oil, gas, and coal products and has invested $35 billion since the war in Ukraine began. Last year, the figure was around $20 billion.
According to the report, China increased Russian energy spending to $7.2 billion in July from $4.7 billion in the same month last year, despite a slowdown in the economy.
Energy products imported from Russia in July included coal, which increased by 14% year-on-year to 7.4 million tons, while coke for the steel industry reached 2 million tons, up 63%.
Russia is now China’s largest energy product supplier. It replaced Indonesia after the latter raised prices.
Meanwhile, crude oil imports from Russia fell to 7.15 million tons in July from the previous month but were still 8% higher than a year earlier. Russia remains the most important energy supplier for Chinese refineries.