China-Russia trade in first 11 months tops 2020 annual total

The first direct China-Europe freight train linking southwest China's Guizhou Province and Russia's Moscow pulls up in Guiyang, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Nov. 18, 2021.(Xinhua/Yang Wenbin)

BEIJING, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Trade between China and Russia saw robust growth this year, with bilateral trade in the first 11 months exceeding the total for the whole of 2020, the General Administration of Customs said Wednesday.

China's exports rose 21.9 percent year on year to 384.49 billion yuan (about 60.34 billion U.S. dollars) during the first 11 months, while imports jumped 25.9 percent from a year ago to 458.92 billion yuan.

Over 70 percent of imports from Russia were energy products and minerals during the 11-month period, with coal and natural gas imports growing rapidly.

China also markedly increased imports of agricultural products from Russia. Beef imports hit 17,000 tonnes from January to November, up 235.7 percent year on year, data showed.

Meanwhile, China exported 235.32 billion yuan worth of mechanical and electrical products to Russia during the period, marking a year-on-year increase of 28.9 percent and accounting for 61.2 percent of China's total exports to Russia.

China's exports of labor-intensive products to Russia reached 76.36 billion yuan, up 2.2 percent and accounting for 19.9 percent of the total.