Russia ready to boost agricultural exports to China - PM

BEIJING. Dec 19 (Interfax) - Russia stands ready to increase exports of agricultural products to the Chinese market, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said.

"We welcome the decision of China's State Council to simplify access for Russian agricultural products to the Chinese market. We are ready to increase their volumes," Mishustin said at the 28th regular meeting of the Russian and Chinese prime ministers in Beijing on Tuesday.

The Agriculture Ministry's Agroexport Center says that Russia has exported over 5.5 million tonnes of agricultural products to China over 8 months this year, which is 2.7 times more than in the same period last year. Exports increased 90% in value terms. These dynamics have allowed China to become a leading buyer of Russian agricultural products.

In particular, shipments of rapeseed oil increased 3.2-fold in volume terms to 1 million tonnes and 2.1-fold in value terms. Exports of sunflower oil increased 8.9-fold in volume to 615,000 tonnes and 5.7 times in value. In addition, 82,000 tonnes of soybean oil were sold to China, which is 90% more than in January-August 2022. Also, 266,000 tonnes of meal and cake were sold, which is a nearly 90% increase.

Shipments of frozen fish increased 80% in physical terms to 629,000 tonnes, while the increase was 37% in value terms. Almost two-thirds of the revenue came from frozen pollock, 12% from cod, and 10% from herring. Export volumes of crustaceans increased nearly 70% in annual terms to 20,000 tonnes.

China has also become one of the top buyers of Russian peas.

Agroexport says that, by 2030, the value of Russian shipments of agricultural products to China could exceed $10 billion. Among the most promising categories are fish and seafood, grain crops, meat products and vegetable oils. By the end of August, over 3,100 Russian enterprises exporting agricultural products were registered in the Chinese CIFER system, 500 of which were added in 2023.