China increased its gas imports from Russia steadily over the past six years, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs.

Following that growing trend, Chinese gas imports from Russia increased from $403 million in 2018 to $13.221 billion in 2024.

Gas imports from Russia

Sanctions against Russia, imposed after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, changed the global economic landscape. A coalition led by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan and other countries took drastic measures. The goal: to slow the Russian advance through financial pressure.

The impact was immediate. Russia, the world’s 11th largest economy in 2024, plays a key role in international trade. It exports oil, natural gas, metals such as titanium, aluminum and nickel, as well as wheat, fertilizers and gases essential to the semiconductor industry.

Gas imports from Russia to China, in millions of dollars, are shown below:

• 2018: 403.
• 2019: 1,145.
• 2020: 1,814.
• 2021: 2,869.
• 2022: 10,857.
• 2023: 11,695.
• 2024: 13,221.

These statistics refer to petroleum gas and other gaseous hydrocarbons.

Energy transition

Europe was particularly hard hit. It was Russia’s main economic partner and depended on Russian natural gas. As a result, it faced severe disruptions. The energy transition required investments in the billions. According to analysts, European countries allocated between 1 and 7% of their GDP to protect households and businesses from rising prices. In doing so, they sought to ensure energy security and reduce their dependence.

At the same time, China increased its gas imports from Russia. China is the world’s largest gas importer, with $88.08 billion in 2024.

Below are the main sources of gas imports to China, in millions of dollars:

• Australia: 15,384.
• United States: 14,070.
• Russia: 13,221.
• Qatar: 12,233.
• Turkmenistan: 9,573.