War in Ukraine: Russia becomes China’s largest oil supplier
Published on 21.6.2022 by Epoch Times with AFP
According to official figures published on June 20, the China significantly increased its imports of Russian crude oil in May, thus helping Moscow to counterbalance the disaffection of its Western customers amid the war in Ukraine.
In May, imports of Russian oil by China would however have increased by 55% over one year, according to figures published Monday by Chinese customs.
The Russia therefore becomes the leading oil supplier in China ahead of Saudi Arabia, with 7.82 million tonnes imported (+9% over one year) in May, or 1.84 million barrels per day.
Last month, the Asian giant bought some 8.42 million tons of oil from Russia, or about 1.98 million barrels a day, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs. This is a quantity well above the deliveries from Russia received a year earlier (5.44 million tonnes).
In total, China’s crude oil imports rose nearly 12% in May to 10.8 million barrels per day, from an average of 10.3 million in 2021.
As for the purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), Chinese imports would have increased last month by 56% over one year to 397,000 tons, according to Customs data.
