Andrey Slepnev: "The volume of trade between the EAEU and China may exceed US$200 billion this year"

21.11.2022

Andrey Slepnev: "The volume of trade between the EAEU and China may exceed US$200 billion this year"

Andrey Slepnev, Trade Minister of the Eurasian Economic Commission, expressed this opinion on the eve of the meeting of the Joint Commission for the Implementation of the Agreement on Trade and Economic Cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union and the People's Republic of China, scheduled for December 1.

"China is the main trading partner of the EAEU, while its positions in trade with the Union have been significantly strengthening recently. This year, China's share has already exceeded 35% of total imports from third countries and is almost 16% of total exports. In both indicators, China confidently ranks first among all states," Andrey Slepnev noted.

According to him, the upcoming event, co-chaired by Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Li Fei from the Chinese side, is designed to further intensify cooperation between the EAEU and China, as well as fill the interaction agenda with topical practical issues.

For reference

At the moment, the trade turnover of the Eurasian Economic Union with China as a whole has grown by almost 30%. Exports increased by approx. 40%, imports by 20%. At the same time, according to the EEC statistics for 7 months, a small deficit in the trade balance of the EAEU in trade with China for the corresponding period of 2021 changed to a significant surplus this year.

The largest share in imports from China among the Union states traditionally belongs to the Russian Federation (more than 80%). The share of the Republic of Kazakhstan is 10%, the Kyrgyz Republic — 4%, the Republic of Belarus — just over 3%. In exports, Russia also accounts for the largest share with an indicator of 85%.

In the industrial segment of exports to China in 2022, natural gas, coal and processed timber products, in particular, show steady growth among the largest commodity groups. If we talk about agricultural exports, we can distinguish rapeseed oil, frozen fish, crustaceans and poultry meat.

In the commodity structure of industrial imports, an increase is observed among such bulk import goods as gas liquefaction equipment, trucks, cars, crawler excavators, tires and tires, air conditioners. Agricultural products include sunflower seeds, tomatoes, plant extracts, peaches, onions, and vegetable and fruit juices.