Trade driving Russia-China ties

The 75th anniversary of the establishment of Moscow-Beijing diplomatic relations is an important occasion in the two countries' history. But the close relationship between the Communist Party of Soviet Union and the Communist Party of China was formed long before the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The relationship between Russia and China has, of late, gained in strength. But Russia has been facing many challenges because of the sanctions imposed on it by the collective West due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The near-negligible Western investment in Russia, however, has facilitated the further growth of Russian-Chinese trade. Beijing has widened the scale of its trade and economic cooperation with Russia, exporting huge shipments of a variety of commodities to Russia — from consumer goods, clothing and shoes to cars and sophisticated appliances and machinery — thus successfully filling the commodity niches created by the withdrawal of Western companies from Russia and the stoppage of supplies from Western markets.