More than three years have passed since the Russia-Ukraine conflict started on February 24, 2022. This battle not only changed the geopolitical structure of Europe, but also made Russia's foreign strategy turn a big turn. In the past, Russia always felt that the West was the main battlefield, and the East was a supplementary role. But now Putin's government is outspoken, admitting that its previous view of the East was too shallow, especially the potential of the Chinese market. Boris Titov, Special Representative of the Russian President and Russian Chairman of the Russia-China Friendship Committee, pointed out this point in an interview. He said that Russia underestimated the East before 2022. After turning around, it was discovered that there were not only high-tech products there, but also prices were much lower than those in Europe.
Before the conflict broke out, China-Russia relations were politically warm. Leaders shook hands when they met, but they always felt that they were in a bad mood economically. Russians 'impression of China products is still at the stage of cheap goods in the 1990s. They feel that they are low-end manufacturing, and the high-end market still depends on Europe. As a result, when the West imposed sanctions, Russia's export channels were completely blocked, imports were also blocked, and business owners were in a hurry. Titov's words were not empty words. As a corporate rights commissioner, he had seen those factory closures with his own eyes. After 2022, Russia will begin to look eastward with great strides. This is not a whim, but a pragmatic choice related to the survival of the country. Trade volume has jumped from about US$190 billion in 2022 to US$240 billion in 2023, and stabilized at around US$245 billion in 2024. Although it dropped a little to 106 billion in the first half of this year, the overall tone has not changed. China has become Russia's largest trading partner for several consecutive years.
Energy is the most obvious. Russia's oil and gas, originally sold mainly to Europe, the market is large, the price is stable. The conflict can be a blow, the door of Europe is knocked down, Russia's budget is tight. China needs to stabilize the supply, Russian crude oil imports doubled from 2022 in a row, in 2023, Russia overtook Saudi Arabia, becoming China's largest crude oil source country. The entire year, Russia's crude oil exports to China reached 1.7 billion tons, accounting for more than 20% of China's total imports. In the first half of this year, exports have fallen slightly, but the pipeline is still coded. China's Eastern Russian natural gas pipeline in December 2019, air, was planned to load 38 billion cubic meters in 2025, but in the end of the year
And more importantly, the way of settlement changed. In the past, the dollar dominated the euro, and now the main currency settlement became the mainstream. In 2023, the share of the yuan in the Russian foreign exchange market dropped from 1% before the war to 42%, in June this year, after the United States coded financial sanctions, jumped directly to 99.6%. The total amount of Russian enterprises exported in yuan, has exceeded the exports to China, and even started to do business with other countries in yuan. Think of how much this changed, before Russia sold oil for dollars, now directly receives the yuan, avoiding Western financial hanging.
Manufacturing and scientific and technological cooperation have also risen. In 2023, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products to Russia will increase by nearly 70%. This is not a small scene, but a real wave of orders. In the Russian auto market, the share of Chinese brands has soared from 7% before the conflict to nearly 50% now, and the mobile phone market is even more exaggerated, accounting for more than 80%. In the past, Russians drove European cars and used European mobile phones, but now they are replaced by Chinese goods, which are not only affordable in price, but also of excellent quality. Due to the shortage of chips, Russian tanks have to make do with household chips in the refrigerator. This sounds ridiculous, but it exposes the ferocity of the West in cutting off supply. If China's high-tech products hadn't filled the position in time, Russia's industrial chain would have collapsed long ago.
In May 2024, Putin visited China, signed a bunch of agreements, energy, technology, and agriculture coverage. Titoff, as a special representative, said in an interview with TASS on June 3, that China and Russia will not sell each other for US concessions, the two countries must jointly build a new economic pole. On September 7, the China-Russia Friendship Committee met in Beijing, he read Putin's message, praise the relationship between the two countries is unbreakable, the committee is great. On September 4, the Kremlin also met with the vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Congress, to listen to the views on China-Russia relations.
Of course, in the first half of 2025, the trade volume between China and Russia dropped by 9.1%, mainly due to fluctuations in global oil prices and internal adjustments in Russia. But the core areas are as stable as old dogs, energy exports are not short, and manufacturing orders are still picking up. China exported 12,000 cars to Russia, an increase of 20%, and the export volume of mobile phones increased steadily. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said on April 13th that under the background of trade war, Sino-Russian relations will be stronger and the trade volume will reach a peak. On April 25th, the chairmen of the Friendship Committee met in Beijing. Titov said that Russia is willing to work with China to promote more projects. On July 26th, he also went to the Secretariat of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization to talk about the long-term work of the Sino-Russian Committee.
In the end, Russia's past look at the East, is a strategic mistake. The western market is big, but now Europe and the United States are bound, on the issue of Ukraine, the European Union on February 24 launched a new round of sanctions, France Germany although there are differences, but the overall door is closed. the United States does not need Russian energy, the rare earth aluminum mining market is small, Trump wants to leave between China and Russia, but the economic chain is the biggest resistance.
Putin's "looking east" strategy has been proposed since 2012, but it was implemented half-assed before the conflict. After 2022, it will really exert its strength. In an interview with China Daily on September 8, 2025, Titov once again emphasized that this trend is permanent, not only in politics, but also in commercial interests. Russian enterprises now use Chinese equipment to build factories, use Chinese mobile phones to work, and use Chinese cars to pull goods. This is not an expedient measure, but the new normal.
The West always wanted to encircle Russia and China, but China and Russia embraced the warming, in turn let the dollar system shake. The internationalization of the RMB stepped fast, Russia took the lead, driving other countries to follow. In April 2025, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said that in the trade war, China and Russia can strengthen economic ties, the new trade volume is not a dream. On September 1, before Putin's visit to China, press secretary Peskov said that this visit to Moscow is a priority, and the Russian-Chinese relationship is unbreakable.
In general, this battle awakened the Putin government, so that they strategically recognized the importance of the East. In the past, looking at the Chinese market, thought that it was a secondary choice, and now became the root of the fate. Russia's future, can not be separated from the support of the East, China-Russia cooperation not only saved Russia, but also reshaped the Eurasian economic map.