Russia has overtaken Saudi Arabia as China’s top oil supplier after selling Beijing cheap petroleum under sanctions over the Ukraine conflict.

Russian oil imports increased by 55 percent year over year to a new high in May, surpassing Saudi Arabia as China’s largest supplier.

Despite demand being reduced by Covid limits and a weakening economy, China has increased its purchases of Russian oil.

China and Russia stated their relationship had “no bounds” in February.

And Chinese corporations, like as state-owned Sinopec and state-owned Zhenhua Oil, have expanded their purchases of Russian petroleum in recent months after receiving steep discounts as European and American importers eschewed Russian energy as a result of sanctions related to the country’s war in Ukraine.

According to figures from the Chinese General Administration of Customs, imports into China totaled roughly 8.42 million tonnes last month, including supplies pumped through the East Siberia Pacific Ocean pipeline and cargoes by sea.

Saudi Arabia, which was formerly China’s largest crude oil supplier, fell to second position with 7.82 million tonnes.

The United States and the United Kingdom said in March that they would boycott Russian oil, while the European Union has been striving to reduce its reliance on Russian gas as the West intensifies its economic reaction to Ukraine’s invasion.