Russian gas giant ramps up China exports
China’s imports of Russian natural gas rose by 28.3% year-on-year in the first eight months of 2025, Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said on Thursday.
Speaking at a meeting with the heads of subsidiary companies and organizations, Miller added that the state-run energy giant continues to supply gas steadily and reliably to both domestic consumers and international partners.
Russia redirected its energy exports to Asia after EU buyers began phasing out Russian oil and gas following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022 and the introduction of Western sanctions against Moscow.
Russia currently supplies gas to Asia’s largest economy via the Power of Siberia pipeline, part of a $400 billion, 30-year agreement signed between Gazprom and China’s state-owned CNPC in 2014. Deliveries began in 2019, and the pipeline reached full operational capacity in December 2024, making Russia the top supplier of natural gas to China.
Ranked among the world’s largest gas importers, China remains the second-biggest buyer of Russian gas. While the EU accounted for the largest share of Russia’s pipeline gas exports, purchasing 39%, China and Turkey each accounted for 27%.
In 2024, China’s pipeline gas imports from Russia reached $7.355 billion, reflecting a 14.29% increase compared to the previous year. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports also rose by 12.85%, according to Chinese customs data.
In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed to accelerate the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline project, which would nearly double Russia’s gas export capacity to China to 50 billion cubic meters annually.
Economic cooperation between the countries has continued to strengthen despite sweeping Western sanctions against Moscow. Bilateral trade hit a record $245 billion in 2024, underscoring the deepening ties.
Putin is expected to visit China next week. The meeting will include large-scale talks with Xi as well as participation in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that both countries value their privileged strategic partnership, which he said is difficult to overestimate.
