Near the Siberian border, a ‘no limits’ China-Russia partnership drives trade

Detailed summary

As Moscow and Beijing grow closer, trade between the countries is booming. That's especially true in Heilongjiang, a key stop for shipments of ...

As Moscow and Beijing grow closer, trade between the countries is booming. That's especially true in Heilongjiang, a key stop for shipments of everything from Russian toys to Chinese tractors.

Chinese workers in hard hats put finishing touches on shiny red and green tractors rolling down the assembly line at Jiamusi Jichi Tractor Manufacturing Co. Many are destined for big commercial grain farms here in China’s breadbasket.

“Russia is our largest customer abroad,” says Yang Haiyan, the factory’s sales director.

On a trip to the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, our Beijing bureau chief sees how growing Russia-China trade is shaping life and business in China’s border towns.

That’s true for many businesses across China’s northernmost province of Heilongjiang, which shares a 1,850-mile-long border with Russia, and has similar terrain and farmland.

From 2021 to 2025, as ties between the two countries deepened, the province’s exports to Russia more than tripled, and imports rose by about 60%. This year, trade has already surged nearly 12%, according to Li Jigang, director of the provincial commerce department.

New roads, rail crossings, bridges, and energy pipelines have fueled the rise in commerce. In 2022, shortly after Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a “no limits” partnership, Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, triggering Western sanctions. Since then, the Kremlin has relied more heavily on trade with China, especially as a market for oil and gas exports. In Heilongjiang, the bulk of its trade is imports from Russia.

Heilongjiang’s frontier towns are key entry points for crude oil, gas, as well as logs and timber that flow into the rest of China.

In the border city of Heihe, across the river from the Russian metropolis of Blagoveshchensk, a huge network of twisting pipes marks the beginning of China’s section of a cross-border gas pipeline.

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