The United States and its allies have imposed sanctions on Russia over its energy supplies to Ukraine over the war. But China has taken the opposite path. Russia imported most of the crude oil it imported in May. For so long, Beijing has been the largest importer of oil from Saudi Arabia.
Russia launched an operation in Ukraine in late February, according to Reuters and AFP . Due to this, Russia’s relations with various influential countries of the world have deteriorated, but China is the exception. The country did not directly condemn the operation. Chinese President Xi Jinping even welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin to Beijing just days before the start of the invasion of Ukraine. It was then announced that there would be no border between China and Russia.
China now imports most of its fuel oil from Russia
According to data provided by Chinese Customs on Monday, China imported about 8.42 million tons of fuel oil from Russia last month. It costs ৭ 748 million. This is about 1 billion more than the amount China paid for oil imports from Russia last month. On the other hand, China imported 620,000 tons of oil from Saudi Arabia in May.
Not only China, but also India has increased its fuel imports from Russia following the sanctions. Germany was Russia’s second-largest importer of crude oil, according to the International Energy Agency. In the last two months, India has overtaken Germany to occupy this position.
