China has reduced imports of Russian oil: who is now the supply leader
20 October 2025 13:50
Despite Western sanctions and restrictions, Russia continues to earn billions of dollars from oil exports. However, imports of Russian oil to China in January-September decreased by 8.1%, dropping to 74.04 million tons. This was reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Russian media.
According to the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China, Russian oil imports to China in January-September 2025 decreased by 8.1% to 74.04 million tons. At the same time, the value of purchases fell by 21% to $37.55 billion.
In September 2025, the trend reversed: supplies increased by 4.3% compared to August and reached 8.28 million tons, indicating a new wave of purchases.
In monetary terms, the figure increased by 5.2% and reached $4.06 billion.
Total oil imports to China decreased by 1.9% to 553.41 million tons over the first nine months of the year. However, the supply of Russian crude oil increased by 1.3% over the same period, reaching 108.47 million tons.
At the same time, despite the reduction in purchases, Russia remains a key supplier of hydrocarbons to China, outstripping Saudi Arabia (59.52 million tons), Malaysia (51.23 million tons), Iraq (49.28 million tons) and other suppliers.
In 2024, China reduced imports of Russian oil by 1.3 percent to 108.47 million tons. In the first five months of 2025, it fell by 12.7 percent.
Overall, in the first nine months of this year, the trade turnover between Russia and China decreased by 9.4 percent. After two record-breaking years, experts expect the volume of bilateral trade to decline from almost $245 billion to about $225 billion.
