China sold almost 10 times more beer to Russia than Russia sold to China

China sold almost 10 times more beer to Russia than it bought from Russia in the first nine months of 2026, according to Chinese customs data reported by the Russian financial news agency Finmarket.

Data from the General Administration of Customs of China showed that Chinese beer exports to Russia reached $44.9 million from January through September, up 34.4% from $33.4 million in the same period a year earlier. Over the same nine months, Russia’s beer exports to China fell to $4.7 million from $9.1 million, a drop of 48.3%.

The figures point to a widening gap in the bilateral beer trade. In value terms, China’s sales to Russia were 9.55 times larger than Russia’s sales to China during the period. That left a bilateral trade balance of $40.2 million in China’s favor.

The September data showed some short-term improvement for Russian exporters, even as the broader yearly trend remained negative. Russia shipped $620,300 worth of beer to China in September, up 3.6 times from $169,800 in September 2025 and 26.7% above the $489,500 recorded in August 2026.

China’s beer shipments to Russia also remained strong in September, though they eased from the previous month. Chinese exports totaled $5.9 million in September, up 43.9% from $4.1 million a year earlier but down 7.8% from $6.4 million in August.

The customs data suggest that Russia lost ground in the Chinese market over the course of the year, while Chinese beer continued to expand in Russia. The contrast is notable because the September rebound in Russian exports was not enough to offset the steep decline seen over the full January-September period.

China’s customs figures also showed that the country imported beer from 57 countries in the first nine months of the year. Germany was the largest supplier at $82.3 million, followed by Japan at $74.7 million, Spain at $69.6 million, and the Netherlands at $69.1 million. Russia’s $4.7 million total placed it far below those leading exporters in value terms.

On the export side, China sold beer to more than 100 countries this year, according to the customs data cited by Finmarket. Russia has become a much more important destination for Chinese beer than China has been for Russian beer, at least when measured by customs value.

The numbers reflect trade values in current dollars rather than physical volumes, which means they do not show whether the changes were driven by shipment size, pricing, product mix, exchange-rate effects, or a combination of those factors. Customs data can also be revised after publication.