Russia and China’s ‘No-Limits’ Trade Partnership Is Losing Steam - The Moscow Times

On his visit to China this week, President Vladimir Putin touted Russia’s “no-limits” cooperation with Beijing, Moscow’s key trade partner and a critical economic lifeline since its rupture with the West in 2022.  And judging by the lavish welcome the Russian leader received in the Chinese capital, one might think the relationship has nowhere to go but up.  Yet despite Putin and Xi Jinping’s proclamations of an ever-deepening partnership, analysts say the two countries may be approaching the limits of what the relationship can deliver economically.  China has largely replaced Europe as a supplier of manufactured goods and a buyer of Russian energy exports since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.  That has helped bilateral trade soar 55% between 2021 and 2025, surpassing the two countries’ shared target of $200 billion set in 2019. Bilateral trade fell 7% to $227.6 billion in 2025, marking the first decline since the pandemic year of 2020.  Russian exports to China dropped 3.9% to $124.8 billion, while Chinese shipments to Russia fell more sharply, declining 10.4% to $103.3 billion, according to Chinese customs data.