China, which continues to supply components to Russia for drones, has stopped importing electricity from Russia due to high prices compared to domestic prices. The Russian Energy Ministry told Reuters that the priority is “to meet the growing demand for electricity in the Russian Far East, but it may resume supplies to China depending on agreed conditions.”
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“Russia may resume electricity exports to China if it receives a corresponding request from Beijing and if mutually beneficial terms of cooperation are reached,” the report says.
It is not specified whether the decision to stop supplies was made by China or Russia, writes Reuters.
“Currently, the parties are actively exploring the possibilities of electricity trade,” the report says. “The Chinese side, with whom we are in constant contact, has also not expressed any interest in terminating the contract.”
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InterRAO supplies electricity to China under a long-term contract via interstate power lines in the Far East. The contract, signed in 2012, provides for the supply of about 100 billion kilowatt-hours to China over 25 years.
But after a record export level of 4.6 billion kilowatt-hours in 2022, Russia is reducing supplies to China due to system constraints and capacity shortages in the Far East, where demand for electricity is growing. In 2023, exports to China fell to 3.1 billion kilowatt-hours. In 2024, they fell further to 0.9 billion kilowatt-hours. The decline continued in 2025: in the first nine months, only 0.3 billion kilowatt-hours were delivered to China.
We should add that trade turnover between China and the Russian Federation fell for the first time in five years in 2025. Last year, this figure amounted to 1.63 trillion yuan ($234 billion), and the decline occurred against the backdrop of falling demand for Chinese cars in Russia and a decrease in the cost of Russian crude oil imported by China.
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At the same time, Russia's economy is weakening with each passing day of the war, experts say. Olaf Scholz recently said that Putin was preparing the attack two years before the invasion.