Russian-Chinese Trade in the Context of Global Challenges: Dynamics, Issues, and Prospects

The subject of the study is the trade and economic relations between Russia and China from the early 1990s to 2024. Their evolution is considered in the context of global economic and political changes, including the collapse of the Soviet Union, China's accession to the WTO, the consequences of global financial crises, and the impact of sanctions on Russia. The article analyzes three key stages of cooperation development: the establishment and barter schemes of the early 1990s, a period of stable growth and institutionalization in the 2000s, and the deepening of partnership in the 2010s and 2020s, characterized by rapid growth in trade turnover and a shift to settlements in national currencies. Special attention is given to the structural features of mutual trade, the role of cross-border interaction, and the influence of foreign policy factors on the dynamics of bilateral relations. The work employs historical-economic and comparative methods, as well as an analysis of statistical data on the foreign trade of Russia and China, which have allowed for the identification of patterns and trends in the development of cooperation. The scientific novelty of this research lies in the comprehensive examination of Russian-Chinese trade and economic relations as a sequential process consisting of three stages, each characterized by its own mechanisms and challenges. Unlike existing works, the emphasis is placed on identifying the contradiction between the extensive growth of trade turnover and the persistent structural imbalance in the commodity nomenclature. The findings of the study confirm that despite record trade turnover and institutional efforts to deepen cooperation, bilateral relations remain vulnerable to external shocks and depend on a limited range of commodity categories. The prospects for sustainable development are linked to the diversification of Russian exports, modernization of infrastructure, expansion of investment interaction, and the development of new mechanisms for protecting economic partnership from sanction pressures.