China increases energy imports from Russia
China increased its purchases of coal and oil from Russia, as data from the Beijing customs office showed on Saturday that Russia was the largest supplier of oil to China for the third month in a row.
According to the data, Russia’s oil imports to China last July amounted to about 7.15 million tons, an increase of 7.6% year on year.
Meanwhile, China’s imports of Russian coal rose to the highest level in more than five years.
Beijing imported 7.42 million tons of coal from Russia last July, an increase of about 14% year by year.
While the European Union has been seeking to significantly reduce its energy dependence on Moscow since Russia’s war with Ukraine, China is taking advantage of cheaper raw material prices from Russia to increase imports.
