Moscow invaded Ukraine, and Russia was sanctioned by the West, which accelerated the growth of Sino-Russian bilateral trade.

(European News Agency)

[Financial Channel/Comprehensive Report] After Russia invaded Ukraine, Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow, and European and American companies withdrew from Russia one after another. India and China have not publicly condemned Russia, including Chinese technology giant Alibaba (Alibaba) and many other big brands Continued operations in Russia, which has been one of the largest markets for AliExpress, Alibaba's platform.

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently visited Russia. Before his trip, he wrote an article on Sino-Russian cooperation. The article mentioned that the bilateral trade between China and Russia exceeded US$190 billion (approximately NT$5.7 trillion) in the past (2022), which has grown compared to the data 10 years ago. China has also become Russia's largest trading partner for 13 consecutive years, including strong cooperation trends in emerging fields such as technological innovation and cross-border e-commerce.

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The Ukrainian armed forces recently shot down a drone in the eastern region, which was confirmed to be a large commercial drone made in China.

(picture taken from twitter)

Russian drone shot down by Ukraine bought from Alibaba

"CNN" (CNN) recently reported that the Ukrainian armed forces shot down a Chinese-made drone in the eastern region.

According to reports, this is a Mugin-5 large-scale commercial drone manufactured by Xiamen Yunlun Intelligent Company of China. The Ukrainian army stated that the shot down Mugin-5 was converted into a drone that can carry bombs.

Some technology and military bloggers refer to these machines as "Alibaba drones". The latest example of civilian drones being modified and weaponized is also a sign of a rapidly shifting paradigm of warfare.

In this regard, Yunlun Intelligent Company confirmed that the shot down was its own product, but emphasized that it "cannot be tolerated", and is doing its best to prevent its products from entering the military supply chain, and reiterated that commercial drones should not be used in military operations.

The "CNN" report also mentioned that after dismantling, it was found that the parts included a server system produced by Taiwanese manufacturer MKS. MKS responded that it was not happy with this matter. The official website also stated that any illegal or military use of the product is prohibited.

Since 2013, Russia has been one of the largest markets for AliExpress, the Alibaba-owned platform.

(Reuters file photo)

"AliExpress Russia" blood transfusion for Russia

Since 2013, Russia has been one of the largest markets for AliExpress. In order to expand the market in Russia, Alibaba announced in 2018 that it will cooperate with the Russian Internet giant Mail.ru (later renamed VK Group), the telecommunications company MegaFon Jointly established "AliExpress Russia" (AliExpress Russia), and is supported by the Russian sovereign wealth fund Russian Direct Investment Foundation (RDIF), Alibaba holds 48% of the shares.

In the spring of 2021, AliExpress Russia announced its financial report for the first time. From April 2020 to April 2021, the platform’s revenue reached 229 billion rubles (approximately NT$6.9 trillion), and there were at least 26.2 million people on AliExpress throughout the year. Bought 1 item through Russia.

Before invading Ukraine, AliExpress Russia was the second largest e-commerce company in the country, accounting for about 10% of the market, according to VK Group.

After the war broke out, Alibaba’s Russian partners faced sanctions from Western countries one after another. AliExpress Russia has also been working hard to maintain normal operations and has no plan to stop business, but AliExpress Russia is not unaffected.

People familiar with the matter pointed out that orders from Russia have decreased due to logistics delays and fluctuations in the ruble exchange rate.

AliExpress Russian former employees revealed to the media that since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the company has laid off 70% of its employees.

In 2022, the bilateral trade between China and Russia will hit a record high, and the growth trend will continue this year.

(European News Agency)

Western sanctions against Chinese companies seize the opportunity to attack the Russian market

Some analysts believe that the retreat of brands from Russia under Western sanctions has created opportunities for Chinese technology companies, including smartphone maker Xiaomi and personal computer (PC) brand Lenovo.

Zhang Hanhui, the Chinese ambassador to Russia, also reported that he had appealed to the top management of Chinese companies, calling on Chinese private companies and small and medium-sized enterprises to seize the opportunity to "fill the gap in the Russian market."

According to data released by China Customs, in 2022, the bilateral trade between China and Russia denominated in RMB will increase by 34.3% annually, reaching a record high of 1.28 trillion RMB (approximately NT$5.6 trillion).

The trend of trade growth continues this year. In January and February of this year, the bilateral trade volume between China and Russia increased by 36.4%, reaching 232.5 billion yuan (approximately NT$1 trillion), of which China's exports to Russia increased by 19.8%.

Russia needs to find substitutes for the cars and electronic products it originally imported from Western markets.

According to the latest data from Russian research firm Autostat, Chinese car brands including Havel, Chery and Geely jumped from 10 percent to 38 percent of the market within a year of Western brands exiting the market. It is estimated that this year may further grow; market research company Counterpoint data shows that Chinese brands will account for about 40% of the Russian smartphone market by the end of 2021. One year later, the market share of Chinese brands has reached nearly 95%.

Neil Thomas, a China analyst at the Eurasia Group, a political risk consulting firm, pointed out that Xi Jinping regards Putin’s support as a strategy against the United States, and he is interested in Russia mainly because Moscow can provide support for China. benefits.

Thomas said that despite China's reluctance to directly support a war waged by Moscow, bilateral relations will continue to develop.

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